sheriff

American  

[sher-if] / ˈʃɛr ɪf /

noun

• sheriffs
  plural

1. the law-enforcement officer of a county or other civil subdivision of a state.

2. (formerly) an important civil officer in an English shire.

---

sheriff British  

/ ˈʃɛrɪf /

noun

1. (in the US) the chief law-enforcement officer in a county: popularly elected, except in Rhode Island

2. (in England and Wales) the chief executive officer of the Crown in a county, having chiefly ceremonial duties

3. (in Scotland) a judge in any of the sheriff courts

4. (in Australia) an administrative officer of the Supreme Court, who enforces judgments and the execution of writs, empanels juries, etc

5. (in New Zealand) an officer of the High Court

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sheriffdom
  noun
• subsheriff
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sheriffs
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of sheriff

before 1050; Middle English sher ( r ) ef, Old English scīrgerēfa. See shire, reeve ¹

---

Explanation

A sheriff is the top-ranking officer in a county police force. Unlike police in a city or town, the sheriff is an elected official. In most states, the sheriff serves a four-year term, and she oversees a department of police officers. A sheriff's job varies from state to state, but it generally includes enforcing the law, making arrests within the county, traffic control, prisoner transportation, and crime investigation. The Old English root word is scirgerefa, "representative of royal authority in a shire." Sheriff has been used in the United States since the 1600's.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sheriff sheriffs

County Board of Supervisors took drastic measures to try to rein in Villanueva’s behavior while he was sheriff, including voting to investigate the department’s activities and freezing millions of dollars in funding.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

A train derailment which resulted in the deaths of three men could have been avoided if a drain had been built correctly, a sheriff has concluded.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

The new sheriff also will be expected to rein in the department’s budget, which has experienced ballooning overtime costs as sworn vacancies have risen markedly under both sheriffs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

Mark Lamb, formerly the sheriff of Pinal County, was once a celebrity sheriff as a regular on Live PD, the hugely popular show in which law enforcement officers broadcast live feeds of their work.

From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026

Head bowed, his voice low, the sheriff talks to the attackers.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Five West Texas sheriffs likewise wrote to federal officials saying advanced surveillance technology would be better suited to stopping undocumented migration in the rugged terrain.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

And whether or not he knew it, it also made him a representative of the community of constitutional sheriffs.

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026

He points to a reduction in crime for the county during his term and says he brought stability after a series of one-term sheriffs since 2014.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

Security at Mar-a-Lago is extremely tight, with an outer cordon of local Palm Beach sheriffs and an inner one maintained by the Secret Service.

From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026

But the next thing we knew, the two sheriffs deputies who had stood quietly at the side of the room all morning were putting handcuffs on my two friends!

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---