high commissioner

noun

1. a representative of one sovereign member of the Commonwealth of Nations in the country of another, having a rank and responsibilities generally similar to those of an ambassador.

2. the chief of a special international commission or other organization.

3. the head of government in a mandate, protectorate, possession, or the like.

high commissioner

noun

1. the senior diplomatic representative sent by one Commonwealth country to another instead of an ambassador

2. the head of an international commission

3. the chief officer in a colony or other dependency

Word History and Origins

Origin of high commissioner¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Two months later, the countries appointed new high commissioners to each other's countries.

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India and Canada have appointed new high commissioners to each other's countries, in the latest step to restore ties strained by the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in a Vancouver suburb in 2023.

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Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, meanwhile called for more international pressure to end the war.

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Turk, who has been the UN's high commissioner for human rights since 2022, said the ban "appears disproportionate and unnecessary".

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In a letter to the Department for Work and Pensions, the UN's high commissioner asked about measures to "address the foreseeable risk of increasing poverty rates amongst persons with disabilities if cuts are approved".

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