councillor

noun

Simple meaning

An elected member of a group that runs a town or area.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kownsuhler

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkaʊnsəlɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

In particular, a representative elected to a local authority, such as a city council: a city councillor.
The title for someone elected to the role of councillor in a local council.
A member of a council

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: In particular, a representative elected to a local authority, such as a city council: a city councillor.

Used this way, councillor is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use councillor

“The city councillor listened carefully to the concerns of her constituents.”

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Particular / title

town councillorcity councillorlocal councillor

Other combinations

privy councillorstate councillormunicipal councillorchief councillorexecutive councillor

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Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.