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.
See Examples For:
It’s why Petitti has been to Washington 21 times, he said, during his tenure as commissioner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Frank Yiannas, a former FDA deputy commissioner, said the agency appears to have moved slowly in its response.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The United Nations General Assembly voted Friday to renew Volker Turk's mandate as high commissioner for human rights for four years despite strong opposition from the United States, Russia and Israel.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Last week NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the regular-season schedule had not been set because the league is waiting on James.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
He had been police commissioner for just twenty-seven months.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
It took state insurance commissioners four years to clamp down on one kind of structured debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Police and crime commissioners will be abolished as part of plans to devolve powers to Norfolk and Suffolk and create a mayorship covering the two counties.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Much of the discussion of Slaughter has focused on the president’s ability to shape the behavior of commissioners by threatening to remove them from their positions.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
At Tuesday’s Coastal Commission meeting, Jennifer Savage of the Surfrider Foundation stepped to the microphone and said to commissioners:
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
That’s why the county commissioners want Dad onstage with them at the meeting tonight.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
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.
