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.
(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
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
First recorded in 1575–85
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He shared a letter in which the assistant attorney general called on a historical preservation group to drop its lawsuit that seeks to prevent the ballroom’s construction.
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
They would go on to become the president and attorney general of the United States, respectively.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
