commissioner

American  

[kuh-mish-uh-ner] / kəˈmɪʃ ə nər /

noun

• commissioners
  plural

1. a person commissioned to act officially; member of a commission.

2. a government official or representative in charge of a department or district.

   the police commissioner; the commissioner of a colony.

3. an official chosen by an athletic association to exercise broad administrative or judicial authority.

   the baseball commissioner.

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commissioner British  

/ kəˈmɪʃənə /

noun

1. a person authorized to perform certain tasks or endowed with certain powers

2. government

   1. any of several types of civil servant

   2. an ombudsman See also Health Service Commissioner Parliamentary Commissioner

3. a member of a commission

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• commissionership
  noun
• subcommissioner
  noun
• subcommissionership
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• commissioners
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

commissioner commissioners

Lee appointed Strada to the role of commissioner in January 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

The governor’s office didn’t announce an interim commissioner and said one would be named in the future.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

The race to succeed Ricardo Lara as California insurance commissioner following the devastating January 2025 wildfires is a classic study in contrasts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

One of the most prominent examples is TN Seshan, who became a household name as India's chief election commissioner in the 1990s for fearlessly enforcing rules.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

The idea of Wilfrido Pipo running for city commissioner was both ridiculous and terrifying.

From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya

State officials do not supervise the agricultural commissioners, who are appointed by and report to their elected boards of supervisors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

In interviews, commissioners lauded California’s enforcement system, saying they think it’s important to have discretion when applying regulations because crops, growing seasons and pesticide use vary from county to county.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

In one instance, the report says, the two commissioners even wrote a letter complaining to the chief secretary, the top bureaucrat in the Indian government.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

In 1989, he took office on the county board of commissioners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Five thousand yellow chairs stood on the red-carpeted speaker’s platform, and in these chairs sat businessmen dressed in black, and foreign commissioners and clerics in scarlet, purple, green, and gold.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• administrator