mayor
noun
Simple meaning
The head of a city government.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mayerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmeɪɚ
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The head of a city government
chiefly us
A largely ceremonial position in some municipal governments that presides over the city council while a contracted city manager holds actual executive power.
The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
figurativehumorous
A local VIP, a muckamuck or big shot reckoned to lead some local group.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The head of a city government
Used this way, mayor is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in government or politics contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Government/politics
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mayor
- “The mayor announced a new plan to improve public transportation.”
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: head of a city government
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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.