commissioner
Americannoun
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a person commissioned to act officially; member of a commission.
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a government official or representative in charge of a department or district.
the police commissioner; the commissioner of a colony.
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an official chosen by an athletic association to exercise broad administrative or judicial authority.
the baseball commissioner.
noun
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a person authorized to perform certain tasks or endowed with certain powers
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government
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any of several types of civil servant
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an ombudsman See also Health Service Commissioner Parliamentary Commissioner
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a member of a commission
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of commissioner
1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French. See commission, -er 2
Explanation
The noun commissioner refers to someone in charge of a formal group or organization, such as a police commissioner or a baseball commissioner. As you might guess, commissioner is related to commission, which describes a group that carries out a particular function. Commissioner can describe an official who directs or regulates a commission, or it can be that person's title. For example, if Theodore Young is the housing commissioner, in formal situations you’d refer to him as Commissioner Young.
Vocabulary lists containing commissioner
Things Fall Apart
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The Articles of Confederation (1777)
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The Dawes Act
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde posted on X a letter he had written to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, requesting him to investigate The Sunday Times claims.
From Barron's • Jul. 5, 2026
Once he discovered it, Dorr proposed the line to his state’s highway commissioner in 1952.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 4, 2026
The police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Donna Jones, said the ruling "represents an important acknowledgement of the seriousness and impact of these truly appalling crimes".
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026
In Humphrey’s, the case the court overturned Monday, President Franklin Roosevelt had tried to fire an FTC commissioner with a one-line letter with no explanation.
From Slate • Jun. 29, 2026
But Davis ruled that Carter had acted responsibly in deter-mining Edwards’s grade and that education commissioner Kirby had no standing to determine that Edwards was ineligible.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
