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 Porlier then served as chief justice of Brown County until 1836. Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2024 Our new chief justice of the Supreme Court was a woman. Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 26 June 2024 Peters was named chief justice by then-Gov. William A. O’Neill in 1984. Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 17 Apr. 2024 Jonathan Dienst Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York. Tom Winter, NBC News, 31 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for chief justice 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chief justice.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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 17 Sep. 2024.

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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