enforcer

[en-fawr-ser, -fohr-]

noun

1. a person or thing that enforces.

2. the member of a group, especially of a gang, charged with keeping dissident members obedient.

3. a person, especially a public official, who enforces laws, regulations, rules, or the like.

4. Also called policeman. Ice Hockey.,  a physically intimidating or willingly belligerent player who is counted on to retaliate when rough tactics are used by the opposing team.

Word History and Origins

Origin of enforcer¹

First recorded in 1570–80; enforce + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Soon after the Israelis left, the regime’s religious leadership largely outsourced water issues to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime’s ideological enforcers.

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It is becoming the “enforcer” of the party leadership.

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Mr. Maduro “was his enforcer, and inherited the throne of that cartel, which, after destroying the oil industry, shifted to a criminal economy.”

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The comment is at odds with the message from countries in the region, which say privately they are deeply uncomfortable with acting as enforcer.

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“Looking ahead, energy, power is going to be an extremely important area of focus for antitrust enforcers,” Jonathan Kanter, former assistant attorney general for the U.S.

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Related Words

• assassin 
• executioner