prosecuting attorney
noun
Simple meaning
A government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prahsihkyootihnguhturneeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɑsɪkjutɪŋəˈtɝni
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
A government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state
A public officer charged with carrying on the prosecution or representing the state in criminal proceedings and, in some jurisdictions, instituting or representing the state in civil or administrative proceedings.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: A government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state
Used this way, prosecuting attorney is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It turns up most in government or politics contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Official and authoritative
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Where it naturally appears
- Government/politics
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.