chief justice

noun

: the presiding or principal judge of a court of justice

Examples of chief justice in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In his nearly two-decade tenure as chief justice, Roberts has been focused on the Supreme Court’s image and keeping the court above partisan politics. Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 31 Dec. 2024 Under the new measure, the role of the chief justice would become a rotating position. Tobi Raji The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 8 Dec. 2024 Officials said Friday that Yoon had ordered the arrest of prominent politicians including Lee, the leader of the Democratic Party, and Han, the leader of Yoon’s own party, along with other opposition lawmakers, a journalist, a former Supreme Court justice and a former Supreme Court chief justice. Stella Kim, NBC News, 7 Dec. 2024 Jonathan Dienst Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York. Andrew Blankstein, NBC News, 2 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for chief justice 

Word History

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chief justice was in 1534

Dictionary Entries Near chief justice

Cite this Entry

“Chief justice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chief%20justice. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

chief justice

noun
: the presiding or principal judge of a court of justice

Legal Definition

chief justice

noun
: a chief judge of a usually higher level court
specifically, often capitalized : the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
chief justiceship noun

More from Merriam-Webster on chief justice

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