chief justice

noun

Synonyms of chief justicenext
: the presiding or principal judge of a court of justice

Examples of chief justice in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This year the chief justice prevailed with different coalitions. Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026 Warren Burger, chief justice of the United States and the chancellor of the Smithsonian, made short work of introducing the president. Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 1 July 2026 Getty Images Key Facts Book publishing has emerged as a major source of income for Supreme Court justices, on top of their annual salaries of either $306,600 or $320,700 for the chief justice. Zachary Folk, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 The Supreme Court justices are worth more than their government salaries − which in 2025 were $317,500 for the chief justice and $303,600 for the eight associate justices. Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for chief justice

Word History

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chief justice was in 1534

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Chief justice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chief%20justice. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.

Kids Definition

chief justice

noun
: the presiding or principal judge of a court of justice

Legal Definition

chief justice

noun
: a chief judge of a usually higher level court
specifically, often capitalized : the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
chief justiceship noun

More from Merriam-Webster on chief justice

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster