governorship

noun

gov·​er·​nor·​ship ˈgə-vᵊn-ər-ˌship 

also ˈgə-vər-nər-

1

: the office of governor

2

: the period of incumbency of a governor

Examples of governorship in a Sentence

a candidate for the governorship

The state has done well during her governorship.

Recent Examples on the Web

Presumably, Gavin Newsom won’t have to worry about that since he’ll be long gone from the governorship, focusing on other things, like running for president. —Jim Doti, Oc Register, 8 Mar. 2026

Attorneys with the Tennessee Attorney General's office placed the bulk of their argument on the powers of the governorship. —Lucas Finton, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 5 Mar. 2026

Heading into the 2026 election cycle, predicting a Republican candidate winning the California governorship would have seemed like a sucker’s bet in the heavily Democratic state. —David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 27 Feb. 2026

The keynote rebuttal typically goes to a rising star in the opposition party, and Spanberger secured one of the Democrats’ biggest wins last year, flipping Virginia’s governorship by a 15-point margin. —Julia Terruso, Time, 25 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1658, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for governorship

• apostleship
• apprenticeship
• assistantship
• championship
• chancellorship
• citizenship
• companionship
• copartnership
• dictatorship
• directorship
• discipleship
• editorship