POTUS

abbreviation or noun

ˈpō-təs 

variants or less commonly Potus

: the president of the United States

—often used like a nickname

The Bushes held their first state dinner. POTUS served buffalo meat, wore cowboy boots and welcomed Clint Eastwood.

—Newsweek

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some other acronyms like POTUS?

The oldest -OTUS ("of the United States") acronym is SCOTUS ("Supreme Court of the United States"), in use since the 1870s. POTUS ("President of the United States") is the second oldest, coming some twenty years after SCOTUS. FLOTUS ("First Lady of the United States") is another, thought to have originated in the 1980s. Less common than these, but still occasionally found, is VPOTUS ("Vice President of the United States").

Is POTUS always capitalized?

The most common form of the word is POTUS, although it is also found as Potus. Less common, and formerly used more frequently in the early 20th century, is potus.

What is the origin of the word POTUS?

POTUS is an acronym created by taking the first letter of each word in "President of the United States." According to our earliest records of its use, it came into being in the 1890s as an abbreviation used by telegraph operators. POTUS was likely based on the slightly older SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States), which had been used by telegraph operators since the 1870s.

Examples of POTUS in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Parsing politics has never been this publication’s primary purpose, but over the decades since, every POTUS has popped up in our pages. —Joe Lynch, Billboard, 30 Oct. 2024

Realize that the transportation innovator can use biology to inform their creation, the NASA genius understands the economics in play, and POTUS knows how to show up on time. —Hisham Ahmad, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024

Any resemblance between himself and a real-life POTUS are, of course, coincidental. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2024

The Get Out the Vote concert arrived on the heels of the Oct. 1 vice presidential debate between Walz and Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, which took place a few weeks after the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Harris and the former POTUS. —Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 5 Oct. 2024

Biden’s performance elevated concerns about his age and acuity, and set in motion a series of events that led the incumbent POTUS to ultimately drop out of the 2024 race. —Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 1 Oct. 2024

In fact, the event venue was just around the corner from where a clearly exhausted POTUS appeared with ex-president Barack Obama and Jimmy Kimmel on June 15 at the Peacock Theatre. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2024

The doc tells the story of how Donald Trump, the former and possibly future POTUS, encouraged a band of people to subvert the U.S. constitution and storm the Capitol. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 24 Sep. 2024

In the aftermath of POTUS’ vulgarity, Jean sets out to handle the press. —Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post, 19 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above