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

City staffers are required to get approval before their travel begins, not after, but those expenses were included among more than two dozen expense reports from the mayor’s office, which were approved without discussion. —Jeff Abell, Baltimore Sun, 7 May 2026

As the incumbent mayor, Bass had to weather blows from her challengers while trying to sell voters on her fitness for another term, despite a disastrous 2025. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026

The mayor pointed to the city’s adaptive reuse ordinance intended to spur the conversion of existing buildings into housing. —Paris Barraza, USA Today, 7 May 2026

With the influx of bot deliveries, Glendale's mayor, Ardy Hassakhian, is pushing for a moratorium until service operations and impacts are better understood. —Jasmine Viel, CBS News, 6 May 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