functionary
Americannoun
-
functionaries
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of functionary
Explanation
A functionary is someone who fills a specific role in a political party or some other organization. We tend to picture them as people in gray suits who follow the boss's orders and don't think for themselves. The origins of this word go back to the French Revolution, and specifically Napoleon. After conquering most of Europe, Napoleon needed lots of people to help carry out all the functions, or duties, of his huge, centralized state. To build an empire you need soldiers; to run an empire you need office workers. These desk knights, if you will, were called fonctionnaires.
Vocabulary lists containing functionary
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The Left Hand of Darkness
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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:
Entertaining down to the last minute, the Bastille Opera finally opened its season with a sad-faced functionary who stepped in front of the curtain to tell us that the “Simone Boccanegra” baritone was indisposed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
The piece suggests this physical restraint conveyed an image of a cautious functionary rather than a dynamic leader capable of governing California during turbulent times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
Because he was an obscure functionary, the lawmaker assumed that he would be an Aaron, Moses’ brother and supporter.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2025
One of my professors, Harry Wexler, had been a young functionary under the midcentury mayor-for-life Dick Lee.
From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2025
Finally, we were escorted down the hall by a nervous little functionary, who kept checking his watch and motioning for us to hurry along.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Both Washington and Mexico City have launched crackdowns against a complex web of unscrupulous functionaries, front companies and document fraudsters, among others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and other Kremlin functionaries live in highly-secure estates near the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway west of Moscow, a suburban community dubbed “Moscow Beverly Hills.”
From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2026
The novel echoes thinkers like Hannah Arendt in pointing out how true-believing functionaries, the butt of ridicule in “normal” times, can help subsume all reason and decency to usurp a compliant and too-comfortable ruling class.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
The most important people in the country all along were the rule-followers—corporate attorneys, regional judges, visa-processing functionaries, tax assessors, customs officials, food and drug regulators.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2025
Much of it came from poorly paid state functionaries whose livelihoods depended on using police and administrative authority to extract cash from upstart capitalists.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
