gubernatorial

adjective

gu·​ber·​na·​to·​ri·​al ˌgü-bər-nə-ˈtȯr-ē-əl 

ˌgyü-, 

ˌgu̇-, 

-bə-

: of or relating to a governor

the gubernatorial election

Examples of gubernatorial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That pattern played out in the recent gubernatorial elections, where both Sherrill and Spanberger managed to squeeze enough support from older voters to prevail. —Jason Lange, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025

Some believe Mills, who has won statewide by comfortable margins in both her 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial bids, would be the strongest candidate to take on Collins. —Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025

Advertisement Democrats secured a wave of wins this year in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, as well as in other smaller races for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Georgia’s public utility regulator, outperforming in races where Trump won last year. —Solcyré Burga, Time, 10 Dec. 2025

However, some local Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated since November’s elections when Democrats scored wins in New Jersey and Virginia, where both winning gubernatorial candidates performed strongly with nonwhite voters. —Adriana Gomez Licon, Fortune, 10 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin gubernator governor, steersman, from gubernare to govern — more at govern

First Known Use

1734, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gubernatorial

• ambassadorial
• combinatorial
• conspiratorial
• gladiatorial
• inquisitorial
• mediatorial
• multifactorial
• prosecutorial
• supratentorial
• arboreal
• armorial
• authorial

Kids Definition

gubernatorial

adjective

gu·​ber·​na·​to·​ri·​al ˌgüb-ə(r)-nə-ˈtōr-ē-əl 

ˌgyüb-, 

-ˈtȯr-

: of or relating to a governor