chief justice

noun

: the presiding or principal judge of a court of justice

Examples of chief justice in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Writing for the court, the chief justice said the words of the 14th Amendment were clear and were clearly understood at the time. — Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2026

Neither is their spouses' income, which in the case of the chief justice, for instance, likely far exceeds his take-home pay. — Nina Totenberg, NPR, 8 July 2026

Both the chief justice and the court’s youngest justice are extremely committed, lifelong jurisprudential conservatives. — Noah Feldman, Mercury News, 7 July 2026

The chief justice focused his annual report on the federal judiciary in 2024 on the issue of rising threats against judges. — Henry Gass, Christian Science Monitor, 7 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chief justice

• injustice

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