Synonyms

city manager

American

noun

a person not publicly elected but appointed by a city council to manage a city.

city manager British

noun

(in the US) an administrator hired by a municipal council to manage its affairs See also council-manager plan

"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 city manager

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

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:

city manager

T. Michael Stavres, the city manager, suggested the possibility of introducing a fire fee to help pay for fire services—prompting commissioners to request he prepare a proposal for a study of the issue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

A couple of weeks after the ad came out, I spoke with Brian Schuth, the city manager of Eastport—a nonpartisan, unelected position.

From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026

Lazzaretto, the city manager, said in his statement that the city has conducted an internal review related to the charges and found no wrongdoing.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

“This is definitely a loss for the community,” said Stone James, the Twentynine Palms city manager.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

“We had to scramble, but we made it. The city manager was able to pull some strings for us.”

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

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