Meaning & use
a councilman
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Meanings
nouncountableAmerican
a man who is elected to serve on a local city or town council.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a councilman' for one, 'councilmen' for more than one; the plural changes -man to -men.
Patterns
- a councilman for something
- elect someone as a councilman
- a councilman representing something
She wrote to her councilman about the broken streetlights.
A councilman for the north side of town voted against the new parking rules.
The councilman promised to hold a public meeting about the library.
nounproperAmerican
used as a title before a man's name when addressing or naming a local elected official.
Grammar: Used as a title, it comes before the name and is capitalized: Councilman Reed.
Patterns
- Councilman + name
Councilman Reed spoke first at the meeting.
The letter was addressed to Councilman Alvarez.
Councilman Okafor has served on the council for six years.
Word forms
| plural | councilmen |
|---|
Common combinations
- city councilman
- He was a city councilman before he ran for mayor.
- local councilman
- A local councilman opened the new playground.
- run for councilman
- She decided to run for councilman in the next election.
- a councilman representing the district
- The councilman representing the district asked for more funds.
- meet with a councilman
- Residents met with a councilman to discuss the noise problem.
Synonyms and how they differ
- councillor
- The usual British word for the same job; use it in UK writing and speech.
- council member
- A neutral, gender-free term that fits any council and avoids the -man ending.
- alderman
- An older term for a similar local official, still used in some US cities but now rare.
Word family
- council noun
- the group of elected people who govern a town or city.
- councilwoman noun
- the female equivalent of a councilman.
- councilmember noun
- a gender-neutral word for anyone on a council.
Commonly confused: a councilman or counselor? a councilman or congressman?
a councilman vs counselor
A counselor gives advice, for example at a school or in therapy, while a councilman is an elected local official. The spellings differ: 'council' for the government body, 'counsel' for advice.
a councilman vs congressman
A congressman serves in the national legislature, but a councilman works at the city or town level.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'councilman' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Two councilmen' is the correct plural for local elected officials. Option 0 confuses 'councilman' with 'counselor', who gives advice. Option 2 is wrong because a councilman serves a city or town, not a whole country. Option 3 describes a national lawmaker, which would be a congressman or member of parliament.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a councilman”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.