vice president

American  

[vahys prez-i-duhnt] / ˈvaɪs ˈprɛz ɪ dənt /

Or vice-president

noun

vice presidents plural

1. an officer next in rank to a president who serves as president in the president's absence.

2. an officer next in rank to a president who serves as a deputy to the president or oversees a special division or function.

3. U.S. Government. the officer of this rank who is elected at the same time as the president and who succeeds to the presidency upon the resignation, removal, death, or disability of the president.

   Lincoln's first vice president was Hannibal Hamlin.

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vice president British  

noun

1. Abbreviation: VP.   V. Pres.  an officer ranking immediately below a president and serving as his deputy. A vice president takes the president's place during his absence or incapacity, after his death, and in certain other circumstances

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Usage

Why is the term vice president in the news? On August 11, 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced he selected California Senator Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate for the 2020 presidential election.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vice presidency
  noun
• vice-presidency
  noun
• vice presidential
  adjective
• vice-presidential
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vice presidents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vice president

First recorded in 1565–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vice president

“To unlock this potential, we need an effective organization to layer AI on,” Megha Yethadka, Uber’s vice president of global community operations, said in a memo to staff last week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Joe Maier, JD, CPA, is senior vice president and director of wealth strategy at Johnson Financial Group.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

The plaintiffs’ claims “lack scientific merit and were sustained only by unreliable expert opinions that could not survive rigorous judicial review,” Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson’s global vice president of litigation, said in a statement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Thanks to four years as vice president and two presidential bids, her name identification is universal, and she has demonstrated the ability to raise mounds of money.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

After graduating, he moved from Boston to Connecticut, to work for a firm near Hartford, and he had recently learned that he was being considered for the position of vice president.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri