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mayor

mayor

1.7
An elected leader who runs a city or town government
  • noun
  • /ˈmeɪər/
translation icon : alcalde
  • The mayor wants foot patrols in the city.
  • a deputy mayor
  • mayor's office
  • a city mayor

Jinx became the first cat to serve as the mayor of Hell, Michigan.

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Examples

  • Due to the structure of the city charter, the mayor has almost complete control of the streets.

    Academic text (2011)
  • You are gonna be the next mayor of New York City.

  • Boy, was the mayor mad.

  • And Mike Bloomberg was the mayor of New York for three terms.

  • The mayor is standing onstage behind me.

  • The mayor's stopping by to pick up a check.

  • Behind the town hall was a neat little house where the mayor lived with her Siamese cat.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • When she left the council, she became the mayor's policy adviser on homelessness.

    Academic text (2011)
  • "New Yorkers have waited nearly 10 years for this news," said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The mayor of Seattle announced new initiatives to improve public transportation in the city.

Synonyms

109 3.0

A person who holds public office after winning an election

is specifically the elected head of a city or town government
reeve
vsmayor
  • Archaic
3 9.9

A local official in a village or town in the past who collected taxes and kept order

is the elected head role for modern municipal governments rather than historical posts
burgomaster
vsmayor
1 9.9

A person who is the mayor of a town in countries like Germany or the Netherlands

is the general elected head term used more widely

Compounds

3.7

A person who used to be the leader of a city or town

How Powerful

prime minister
216 2.3
cabinet minister
  • UK
12 5.0
politician
2.9
mayor
1.7
councilmember
  • US
5 3.6

Surface Forms

mayor singular
mayors plural

Etymology

Mayor comes from the old Latin word maior, which means 'greater' and is the same root as the English word major. So a mayor is the town's 'greater' person — the chosen head or leader of a city.