executive order

noun

: regulation sense 2b

Examples of executive order in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Renaming the department would require an act of Congress, as executive orders cannot override federal laws and statutes. —Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 5 Sep. 2025

The Department of Defense has effectively been renamed the Department of War, according to an executive order to be issued today by the President. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025

Today, New York’s governor signed an executive order to allow pharmacists to prescribe and administer COVID-19 vaccines, even without ACIP’s okay. —Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2025

Trump will sign an executive order reverting to the Department of War as a secondary name for the Defense Department. —Zac Anderson, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025

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.