executive order

noun

: regulation sense 2b

Examples of executive order in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lewis George, 38 and a third generation Washingtonian, has vowed to overrule an executive order by the city’s police chief permitting local law enforcement to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. —ABC News, 18 June 2026

But in a video posted Wednesday that's been viewed more than 600,000 times on Instagram, Healey welcomed Scottish fans into the State House to sign what appeared to be an executive order. —Neal Riley, CBS News, 18 June 2026

Trump first pushed for the creation of the garden in 2020 through an executive order so that it could be completed by July 4, 2026. —Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 17 June 2026

While the president's executive order called for voluntary adherence, Friday's directive had a very different tone, said Daniel Remler, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. —Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 17 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for executive order

• boarder
• border
• corder
• warder
• camcorder
• disorder
• recorder
• reorder
• suborder
• transborder

Legal Definition

executive order

noun

: an order issued by a government's executive on the basis of authority specifically granted to the executive branch (as by the U.S. Constitution or a congressional act)

the National Security Agency was created by an executive order

compare proclamation, statute

Note: An executive order from the president does not have the force of law until it is printed in the Federal Register.