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
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Democrats said the changes to House Bill 1033, approved 59-27, takes away several organizations' votes on the existing judicial selection committee and gives them to the governor and chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Kaitlin Lange, IndyStar, 27 Feb. 2026 Its chief justice is Hugo Aguilar, an Indigenous lawyer from the neighboring state of Oaxaca. ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026 Authorities provided few details at the time, but Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello alleged the existence of a military plot to kidnap former Supreme Court chief justice Maikel Moreno. Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2026 Jonathan Dienst Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York. Liz Kreutz, NBC news, 24 Feb. 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

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Cite this Entry

“Chief justice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chief%20justice. Accessed 1 Mar. 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

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