Meaning & use
mayor
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The elected leader of a city, town, or municipal government.
Grammar: Countable; plural is mayors. Use the before a specific officeholder.
Patterns
- elect a mayor
- the mayor of a city
- mayor announces something
The mayor announced plans to repair the river bridges.
Our town elected its youngest mayor last year.
nouncountableBritish
The ceremonial head of a council or borough where executive power lies elsewhere.
Grammar: Also countable; the context shows whether the role is mainly symbolic.
Patterns
- serve as mayor
- the mayor opens something
- deputy mayor
In this borough the mayor cuts ribbons and chairs ceremonies.
The deputy mayor attended while the mayor was abroad.
Word forms
| plural | mayors |
|---|
Common combinations
- elect a mayor
- Voters will elect a mayor in November.
- the mayor of
- The mayor of the city joined the cleanup crew.
- mayor's office
- Call the mayor's office about the broken streetlight.
- former mayor
- The former mayor teaches a class on local government.
Synonyms and how they differ
- governor
- Usually leads a state or province, larger than a city mayor.
- councilor
- A member of a council; may advise but does not alone lead the city.
- chair
- Leads meetings or an organization; less specifically elected municipal leader.
Opposites
Word family
- mayoral adjective
- Relating to a mayor or the office of mayor.
- mayoralty noun
- The position or term of a mayor; formal.
Commonly confused: mayor or major? mayor or mare?
mayor vs major
Major means important or an army rank; mayor is the city leader.
mayor vs mare
A mare is an adult female horse; the vowel and meaning differ.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
A town is led by a mayor, not a major. Option three has a plural agreement problem, and option four uses mayor unnaturally as an object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mayor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.