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

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Etymology

Origin of commissioner

1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French. See commission, -er ²

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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

Why games now seem to drag on longer than some players’ college careers is a question that even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been asking himself recently.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Hurts is perhaps one of the most disrespected players in the NFL as, in commissioner Roger Goodell’s words, a “face of the league.”

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026

Vicky Lagos, the City Section commissioner, was watching last week’s King/Drew-Crenshaw football game on the sideline when she noticed problems with the chain crew.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

"Like everyone, we're examining social media associations, talking to witnesses, friends and colleagues," Victoria police commissioner Mike Bush told journalists.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

When an embarrassed police department and Bull Connor, Birmingham’s commissioner of public safety, saw that they were losing the battle to youngsters, things started getting nasty.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

Mayor Karen Bass is the chair of Metro and appoints airport commissioners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

Restoring that trust won't be easy, nor will finding replacements for the current commissioners when their term comes to an end.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

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 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

Late in November, a two-week inquiry was held by the police and fire commissioners concerning the fire.

From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy

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