barrister
Americannoun
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barristers
plural
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(in England) a lawyer who is a member of one of the Inns of Court and who has the privilege of pleading in the higher courts.
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Informal. any lawyer.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of barrister
1535–45; derivative of bar 1, perhaps after obsolete legister lawyer or minister
Explanation
The Brits and Canadians prefer to say barrister instead of "lawyer," but they mean the same thing. A barrister is a person who goes to court on behalf of the defense or the prosecution. The image of the barrister — a lawyer who pleads cases in the higher, or what is called "superior," courts of Britain — is of a white-wigged gentleman wearing a long black gown over a dark suit. Now, everyone who is a barrister wears white wigs. Barristers are so named because they were literally "called to the bar," which means that they are able to practice law. Barristers are not the same as solicitors, who advise clients but only appear in Britain's lower courts.
Vocabulary lists containing barrister
A Doll's House
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Akata Witch
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Water for Elephants
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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.
See Examples For:
A defence barrister submitted the accused is a "reasonable candidate for bail as there is nothing on record for violence or domestic abuse".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
"He is unable to recall any event that would have caused such injuries but accepts that some such event must have occurred," the barrister continued.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
She was not represented in court by a barrister on Tuesday afternoon.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Travelodge said it had commissioned an independent review led by a barrister "to examine our room access security policies and escalation procedures".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Duma Nokwe, the young and good-natured barrister who was then national secretary of the Youth League, was among them.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
During a two-day hearing at the High Court earlier this week, barristers for the MoJ said the Parole Board had failed to assess Razzell's risk properly and called for the decision to be reversed.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The second phase - which has not been fully reported until now - saw the judge set out a lengthy and legally complex reasoning for the court record so that barristers could understand his thinking.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Those rulings included an order that none of the barristers could refer in their speeches to "jury equity".
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
The latest data shows that barristers are at least three times more likely to have been privately educated than the wider population.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
“One of those white wigs that British barristers plop on top of their heads when they are trying a case.”
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
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.
