chief of staff

noun phrase

1

: the ranking officer of a staff in the armed forces serving as principal adviser to a commander

2

: the ranking officer of the army or air force and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Examples of chief of staff in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump’s inner circle, including incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, close confidant Stephen Miller, and Vance, were among those who floated breaking up this sweeping legislative agenda into two or three separate bills, according to three people present. —Eric Cortellessa, Time, 7 Aug. 2025

Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a homeland security adviser, told Fox News host Sean Hannity at the time that the agency was looking to hit 3,000 ICE arrests per day. —Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025

Tracey Knight, chief of staff for Precinct 4 Commissioner Manny Ramirez, said his office had not yet discussed the proposal. —Cody Copeland, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Aug. 2025

White’s chief of staff Caleb Clifford declined to comment on Friday’s hearing. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 2 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chief of staff

• autograph
• biograph
• cenotaph
• chronograph
• epigraph
• epitaph
• hodograph
• holograph
• hydrograph
• lithograph
• micrograph
• monograph

Kids Definition

chief of staff

1

: the ranking officer of a staff in the armed forces who advises a commander

2

: the ranking officer of the army or air force