prime minister

noun

1

: the chief minister of a ruler or state

2

: the official head of a cabinet or ministry

especially : the chief executive of a parliamentary government

prime ministerial adjective

prime ministership noun

prime ministry noun

Examples of prime minister in a Sentence

the Prime Minister of England

Recent Examples on the Web

On Christmas Day, Trump urged Canadian citizens to encourage Gretzky to become the next prime minister. —Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 20 Jan. 2025

Advertisement The prime minister earlier warned that a cease-fire wouldn’t go forward unless Israel received the names of hostages to be released, as agreed. —Samy Magdy, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025

Netanyahu faced major political fallout ahead of the cabinet meeting to approve the deal, with two far-right parties threatening to quit the government if the deal went through – a move that could cause the prime minister to lose his majority in the Knesset, or parliament. —Mick Krever, CNN, 18 Jan. 2025

In 1957, the U.S. ambassador nevertheless approached Denmark’s then–prime minister, H. C. Hansen, with a request. —Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 18 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1655, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

prime minister

noun

: the chief officer of the government in some countries

Legal Definition

prime minister

noun

prime min·​is·​ter

-ˈmi-nə-stər

1

: the chief minister of a ruler or state

2

: the official head of a cabinet or ministry

especially : the chief executive of a parliamentary government

prime ministerial

-ˌmi-nə-ˈstir-ē-əl

adjective

prime ministership noun

prime ministry

-ˈmi-nə-strē

noun