electorate

noun

elec·​tor·​ate i-ˈlek-t(ə-)rət How to pronounce electorate (audio)
1
: the territory, jurisdiction, or dignity of a German elector
2
: a body of people entitled to vote

Examples of electorate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web While Seagraves is just one voter — not a representative sample of the electorate — her experience shows that Biden's campaign has a lot of work to do. Tamara Keith, NPR, 8 Mar. 2024 Unlike them, a sizable proportion of the California electorate was made up of fewer White voters (about a fifth of the electorate was Latino), but Trump won handily among both White and non-White voters alike. Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2024 Few Republican presidential primary polls have been conducted of the state’s electorate. Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024 The two initiatives come as the city has been wracked by homelessness and drug use, and Breed faces a cranky electorate in her own reelection in November. Nicholas Riccardi, The Denver Post, 29 Feb. 2024 What many people don’t realize, however, is that the size of the Latino electorate has grown by nearly four million since 2020. Marcela Valdes, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024 During the 2016 election, 8.3 million voters ‒ or 6% of the electorate ‒ chose a third-party candidate, Kondik said in an interview with USA TODAY. USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2024 With two weeks to go before the state’s March 5 primary, candidates are battling for a shrinking slice of the electorate. David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024 College grads were a growing part of the electorate from the 1940s to the 1990s. Michael Barone, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'electorate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1620, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of electorate was in 1620

Dictionary Entries Near electorate

Cite this Entry

“Electorate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/electorate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

electorate

noun
elec·​tor·​ate i-ˈlek-t(ə-)rət How to pronounce electorate (audio)
: a body of people entitled to vote

Legal Definition

electorate

noun
elec·​tor·​ate
: a body of people entitled to vote

More from Merriam-Webster on electorate

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