mayoral
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of mayoral
Explanation
Anything mayoral has to do with the official leader of a city or town, or with the office itself. In a mayoral election, candidates are vying to become the highest-ranking city official. Mayoral is from mayor, which derives from the Old French maire, "head of a city or town government," and a Latin root meaning "great." This adjective is used to talk about things related to the mayor, from the mayoral residence and mayoral duties to mayoral election campaigns and speeches. If you have mayoral ambitions, that means you dream of heading up your town's government one day. The word mayoral can also be used as a noun when referring to any overseer or foreman, especially of a ranch or an estate in Spain or Mexico in the 1800s.
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.
Mayoral candidates Rae Huang and Adam Miller criticized their exclusion from the KNBC/Telemundo debate.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani called the raid aggressive and reckless.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 22, 2025
The festival has been supported by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, which has provided £325,000 of funding for the event.
From BBC • Mar. 7, 2024
Mayoral, state and federal elections are increasingly synchronized on one election day.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 27, 2024
It had no doubt been used by many occupants of the Mayoral chair during their term of office.
From In the Mayor's Parlour by Fletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
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.
