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

Chief Budget Officer David Clodfelter, who helped Levine Cava manage a massive influx of federal COVID aid and then propose austerity measures when the money ran out, will take on an advisory role in the mayor’s administration. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2026

The mayor added that the vehicles caused a delay in response time. —Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 7 Jan. 2026

But Mamdani won by a whopping nine percent margin in the race against former mayor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an Independent after Mamdani won the Democratic primary. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Jan. 2026

One photo purporting to show Maduro after his capture was shared widely, including by the mayor of Coral Gables Florida, Vince Lago, and in a joint Instagram post by two popular conservative content accounts with over 6 million combined followers. —CBS News, 6 Jan. 2026

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