sheriff

American  

[sher-if] / ˈʃɛr ɪf /

noun

• sheriffs
  plural

1. the law-enforcement officer of a county or other civil subdivision of a state.

2. (formerly) an important civil officer in an English shire.

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sheriff British  

/ ˈʃɛrɪf /

noun

1. (in the US) the chief law-enforcement officer in a county: popularly elected, except in Rhode Island

2. (in England and Wales) the chief executive officer of the Crown in a county, having chiefly ceremonial duties

3. (in Scotland) a judge in any of the sheriff courts

4. (in Australia) an administrative officer of the Supreme Court, who enforces judgments and the execution of writs, empanels juries, etc

5. (in New Zealand) an officer of the High Court

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sheriffdom
  noun
• subsheriff
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sheriffs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of sheriff

before 1050; Middle English sher ( r ) ef, Old English scīrgerēfa. See shire, reeve ¹

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Explanation

A sheriff is the top-ranking officer in a county police force. Unlike police in a city or town, the sheriff is an elected official. In most states, the sheriff serves a four-year term, and she oversees a department of police officers. A sheriff's job varies from state to state, but it generally includes enforcing the law, making arrests within the county, traffic control, prisoner transportation, and crime investigation. The Old English root word is scirgerefa, "representative of royal authority in a shire." Sheriff has been used in the United States since the 1600's.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sheriff sheriffs

Pishko explains the story of Aaron Spencer, a 38-year-old Army veteran who was nearly put on trial for murdering a man but is now running for local sheriff.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

The sheriff responded that deputies had conducted brief and routine polling place visits for years.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

Former Long Beach Police chief Robert Luna came out of retirement to run for sheriff in 2022, promising to turn around a department that had veered off course.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

He also asked the sheriff to impose non-harassment orders, banning Gallacher from having any contact with his victims.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

The sheriff doesn’t look much like Sandy—he looks more like Mikey, with a sunburn spreading across his nose, puffy cheeks, and those small, pale, watery eyes.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

Tran is endorsed by the unions for Orange and Los Angeles counties’ deputy sheriffs, the International Assn. of Fire Fighters, the California Federation of Labor Unions and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Five West Texas sheriffs likewise wrote to federal officials saying advanced surveillance technology would be better suited to stopping undocumented migration in the rugged terrain.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

And whether or not he knew it, it also made him a representative of the community of constitutional sheriffs.

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026

Security at Mar-a-Lago is extremely tight, with an outer cordon of local Palm Beach sheriffs and an inner one maintained by the Secret Service.

From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026

But the Joneses knew there were more sheriffs lurking in towns throughout Illinois and across the northern states.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

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