supreme court

noun

often capitalized S&C

1

: the highest judicial tribunal in a political unit (such as a nation or state)

2

: a court of original jurisdiction in New York state subordinate to a final court of appeals

Examples of supreme court in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Same with state governments — including legislatures that pursue new laws, state supreme courts that determine the laws’ constitutionality, attorneys general who decide whether to defend them and district attorneys who enforce them. —Geoff Mulvihill, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2024

Voters in at least 30 states will decide who will fill 69 state supreme court seats in judicial elections, with the ideological balances of two high courts — in Michigan and Ohio — at stake. —Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 23 Oct. 2024

This overhaul is the only way to eliminate the corruption in our courts and confront a supreme court that has blocked AMLO's security and energy agenda. —The Week Uk, theweek, 29 Sep. 2024

Like most of Venezuela’s official institutions, its supreme court is an assemblage of pro-government loyalists. —Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1686, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

supreme court

noun

: the highest court in a political unit (as the U.S. or one of its states)

Legal Definition

supreme court

noun

su·​preme court

1

: the highest court in a nation or state

specifically, capitalized S&C : the highest court in the judicial branch of the U.S. government that has original jurisdiction over controversies involving ambassadors or other ministers or consuls but whose main activity is as the court of last resort exercising appellate jurisdiction over cases involving federal law

2

capitalized S&C : a court of original jurisdiction in New York

Note: The court of last resort in New York is the Court of Appeals.