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
How does attorney-general compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and your state’s attorney general if you believe a debt collector has violated the law.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
We can’t predict how Congress will vote on Blanche’s confirmation next week, but it’s worth noting that every Republican in the Senate voted to confirm him as deputy attorney general last year.
From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2026
Eventually, the fight escalated to Tallahassee, drawing a rare, and controversial, intervention from Florida’s attorney general.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
A source close to the Paxtons said the attorney general has not moved back into the home since leaving.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
An assistant attorney general then presented the State's arguments—capital cases on appeal were managed by the attorney general, not the local district attorney.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
ConserveOhio completed the first three steps by April, getting approval from the Ohio Attorney General to move forward with signature collection at the beginning of the month.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Attorney General Peter Neronha calls it “willful, reckless, or wicked, as amounted to criminality.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The initial sentences were referred to the court after they were called "unduly lenient" by Attorney General Lord Hermer.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Brennan’s lawsuit names Trump as a defendant, as well as law-enforcement officials including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Calling Greeley, “the self appointed Attorney General for the hobgoblin society,” the Burr brothers set out to expose spirit communication as a fraud and tell the public the truth about the Fox sisters.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
