mayor

noun

may·​or ˈmā-ər  ˈmer 

 especially before names  (ˌ)mer

: an official elected or appointed to act as chief executive or nominal head of a city, town, or borough

mayoral

ˈmā-ə-rəl 

ˈmer-əl;

ˌmā-ˈȯr-əl 

adjective

Examples of mayor in a Sentence

the mayor of New York

Recent Examples on the Web

The narrative switched when Jane Byrne became mayor in 1979 and pushed for movies to be filmed in Chicago. —Cam'ron Hardy, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2025

Pellegrini attended last week’s meeting to support her partner, Councilmember Cara Pellegrini, who became vice mayor against her own wishes after Tuesday’s vote to restructure the council. —Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 18 Aug. 2025

All of them are led by Black mayors and all of those leaders are Democrats. —Deborah Barfield Berry, USA Today, 16 Aug. 2025

That Nashville mayor had to pay back like 50k AND serve 3 yrs probation. —Jasmine Baehr , David Spunt , Bill Mears, FOXNews.com, 16 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English maire, from Anglo-French, from Latin major greater — more at major

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mayor

• gayer
• grayer
• greyer
• layer
• nayar
• payer
• payor
• peyer
• player
• preyer
• sayer
• slayer

Kids Definition

mayor

noun

may·​or ˈmā-ər  ˈme(-)ər 

: an official elected to act as head of a city or borough

mayoral

ˈmā-ə-rəl  ˈme- ə- 

adjective

Legal Definition

mayor

noun

may·​or ˈmā-ər, ˈmer 

: an official elected or appointed to act as chief executive or nominal head of a city, town, or borough