attorney general

American

noun

plural

attorneys general, attorney generals

the chief law officer of a country or state and head of its legal department. att. gen.
Attorney General, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice: a member of the president's cabinet. Atty. Gen.

Attorney General ¹ British

noun

(in the United Kingdom except Scotland) the senior law officer and chief legal counsel of the Crown: a member of the government and of the House of Commons
(in the US) the chief law officer and legal adviser to the Administration: head of the Department of Justice and member of the cabinet
(in Australia and New Zealand) the chief government law officer: a member of Parliament and usually a cabinet minister

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

attorney general ² British

noun

a country's chief law officer and senior legal adviser to its government
(in the US) the chief law officer and legal adviser of a state government
(in some states of the US) a public prosecutor

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of attorney general

First recorded in 1575–85

Compare meaning

How does attorney-general compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

solicitor general vs. attorney general

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Aprill believes that this precedent is still a stretch in Musk’s case because OpenAI could argue that the attorney general of California was clearly not too busy to attend to this matter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Postal Inspection Service and/or your state attorney general.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 27, 2026

As we wrote last week, Pirro was refusing to do so, perhaps because she was trying to impress Trump into making her the next attorney general.

From Slate • Apr. 25, 2026

Blanche, in an interview earlier this month after he became acting attorney general, told Fox News that the Epstein files "should not be a part of anything going forward".

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

The ex-CIA agent had been identified as James McCord, currently employed by the Committee to Reelect the President—which was headed by Nixon’s former attorney general, John Mitchell.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023