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

Large donors, including former mayor Michael Bloomberg, have contributed to Cuomo’s campaign in an effort to stymie Mamdani’s run. —Connor Greene, Time, 4 Nov. 2025

Abdullah Hammoud, the son of Lebanese immigrants, became the first Arab American mayor of Dearborn when he was elected in 2021. —Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025

Wood was a prominent member of The4000, a group that worked with the mayor’s office to combat an initiative that sought to stop Sacramento from using taxpayer subsidies to help fund the Kings’ new arena. —Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2025

Sliwa, who is best known as the founder of the subway-vigilante group the Guardian Angels, previously ran for mayor, in 2021, and lost to Eric Adams by nearly forty points. —Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 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