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
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Bivens returns as Supreme Court chief justice Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court unanimously elected Justice Jeff Bivins to serve as chief justice of the court this week. Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean, 5 Sep. 2025 Like the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the Fed chair represents just one vote but is also a first among equals who carried outsized influence. Jason Ma, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2025 Grace, a career prosecutor with clerkships under New Jersey’s chief justice and a Third Circuit judge, had already risen to lead the office’s criminal division. Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 21 Aug. 2025 However, an assistant attorney general under Nixon (and later Supreme Court chief justice), William Rehnquist, had drafted a memo claiming that the bombing was justified by—wait for it—the commander-in-chief clause of the Constitution. Chris Lehmann, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025 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 10 Sep. 2025.

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

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