supreme court

noun

variants often Supreme Court

1

: the highest judicial tribunal in a political unit (such as a nation or state)

2

: a court of original jurisdiction in New York state subordinate to a final court of appeals

Examples of supreme court in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In Wisconsin, the state supreme court is taking up two redistricting cases that could potentially lead to a new map that could favor Democrats in up to two House districts. —Benjamin Siegel, ABC News, 30 Nov. 2025

On Monday, the Western Australia supreme court named lawyer Ian Torrington Blatchford as interim administrator of an estate believed to be worth millions. —Simon Crerar, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025

State supreme court candidate Judge Jefferson Griffin demanded that courts throw out 1,675 valid military and overseas votes in a contentious legal battle over his narrow loss in the 2024 Supreme Court election. —Ellen Gustafson, Time, 26 Nov. 2025

So far, both conservative and liberal supreme court justices have seemed skeptical of his arguments. —Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 17 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1686, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for supreme court

• abort
• airport
• alport
• athwart
• carport
• comport
• consort
• deport
• distort
• escort
• exhort
• extort

Kids Definition

supreme court

noun

: the highest court in a political unit (as the U.S. or one of its states)

Legal Definition

supreme court

noun

su·​preme court

1

: the highest court in a nation or state

specifically, capitalized S&C : the highest court in the judicial branch of the U.S. government that has original jurisdiction over controversies involving ambassadors or other ministers or consuls but whose main activity is as the court of last resort exercising appellate jurisdiction over cases involving federal law

2

capitalized S&C : a court of original jurisdiction in New York

Note: The court of last resort in New York is the Court of Appeals.