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• official
  official

  noun

  a person appointed or elected to an office or charged with certain duties.
• Official
  Official

  adjective

  of or relating to one of the two factions of the IRA and Sinn Féin, created by a split in 1969. The Official movement subsequently renounced terrorism and entered constitutional politics in the Irish Republic as the Workers' Party (now the Democratic Left)

official

American  

[uh-fish-uhl] / əˈfɪʃ əl /

noun

• officials
  plural

1. a person appointed or elected to an office or charged with certain duties.

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adjective

1. of or relating to an office or position of duty, trust, or authority.

   official powers.

2. authorized or issued authoritatively.

   an official report.

3. holding office.

4. appointed or authorized to act in a designated capacity.

   an official representative.

5. (of an activity or event) intended for the notice of the public and performed or held on behalf of officials or of an organization; formal.

   the official opening of a store.

6. Pharmacology. noting drugs or drug preparations that are recognized by and that conform to the standards of the United States Pharmacopeia or the National Formulary.

official ¹ British  

/ əˈfɪʃəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to an office, its administration, or its duration

2. sanctioned by, recognized by, or derived from authority

   an official statement

3. appointed by authority, esp for some special duty

4. having a formal ceremonial character

   an official dinner

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noun

1. a person who holds a position in an organization, government department, etc, esp a subordinate position

Official ² British  

/ əˈfɪʃəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to one of the two factions of the IRA and Sinn Féin, created by a split in 1969. The Official movement subsequently renounced terrorism and entered constitutional politics in the Irish Republic as the Workers' Party (now the Democratic Left)

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noun

1. a member of the Official IRA and Sinn Féin

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subofficial
  noun
• nonofficial
  adjective
• preofficial
  adjective
• pseudoofficial
  adjective
• quasi-official
  adjective
• underofficial
  adjective
• unofficial
  adjective
• nonofficially
  adverb
• officially
  adverb
• preofficially
  adverb
• pseudoofficially
  adverb
• quasi-officially
  adverb
• subofficially
  adverb
• unofficially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• officials
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of official

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Late Latin officiālis “of duty,” equivalent to Latin offici(um) “service, duty” + -ālis adjective suffix; see origin at office, -al ¹

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Explanation

Official is the real deal. If you want the latest news from Graceland, check the official Elvis Presley website. But you’ll have to look elsewhere to find the unofficial, unapproved, and highly unlikely scoop on Elvis sightings. If something is official, it's authorized and approved by somebody. If Gatorade is the official drink of the Olympics, somebody with authority has signed some papers and a deal has been made. When you're playing soccer or other sports, the official is the person who makes the calls; he referees (or officiates) the game.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

official Official officials

In its report about the alleged order regarding Starshield, Reuters quoted two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Taken together, a Treasury official estimates the US deficit-to-GDP ratio is around 6.2 percent, up from 5.8 percent last year.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

In July, when the Dodgers visited the White House, Walter presented Trump with an official World Series championship ring with his name engraved on it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

The total cost of the program could be around $160 million, a U.S. official said, adding that it is unclear whether Hezbollah has that much liquid cash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

She called hello to Emma a little while ago, but this is our first official meeting.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Official data released Wednesday showed China's exports continued their historic surge, providing a much-needed boost to the economy.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Official data due on Monday is expected to show the world's second-biggest economy expanded 4.4 percent year-on-year in July-September, according to economists polled by AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Official accounts ignore a cost every household pays: the time spent sorting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Official statistics show there has been about a 10% increase in traffic on the road in the last 10 years alone, with increase of about 30% forecast over the next 25 years.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

At about three a.m. on July 5, 2010, the grave of Bobby Fischer was opened by a team of experts from the Reykjavik Official Cemeteries Department.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

“Be cautious of unexpected emails, phone calls, or text messages” related to the incident, including claims that the caller is from ETS or the state or a credit monitoring company, officials also warned.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

In its report about the alleged order regarding Starshield, Reuters quoted two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Investors took that to mean that the central bank likely won’t raise rates at its Oct. 27-28 meeting given that other officials have previously signaled that a pause was likely.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The selloff in AI stocks created safe-haven demand for government bonds, and comments from Federal Reserve officials reduced expectations for another immediate rate increase.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The students were shown photos of ten Soviet military officials and told to point to the man they’d met at the bridge.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

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