officeholder

[aw-fis-hohl-der, of-is-]

noun

1. a person filling a governmental position; public official.

Other Word Forms

• nonofficeholder noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of officeholder¹

First recorded in 1850–55; office + holder

Example Sentences

Historian Gordon Wood wrote that the American Revolution “reconstituted what Americans meant by public or state power and brought about an entirely new kind of popular politics and a new kind of democratic officeholder.”

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The mainstream press, which I suspect would have preferred to report on Republican insouciance, noted instead the number and caliber of GOP officeholders openly rejecting Mr. Roberts’s plea to take it easy on right-wing Jew-haters.

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The radical reconfiguration not only put Republicans in danger, but likely protects vulnerable Democratic officeholders by adding more voters from their own party into their reconfigured districts.

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Previous officeholders had gone on diplomatic missions, run task forces or even served as the president’s attack dog.

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The officeholder also leads the more than 6,000 members of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

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Related Words

• administrator 
• agent 
• bureaucrat 
• civil servant 
• commissioner 
• director 
• executive 
• leader 
• manager 
• minister 
• officer 
• representative 
• secretary