official

[uh-fish-uhl]

noun

1. a person appointed or elected to an office or charged with certain duties.

adjective

1. of or relating to an office or position of duty, trust, or authority.

   official powers.

2. authorized or issued authoritatively.

   an official report.

3. holding office.

4. appointed or authorized to act in a designated capacity.

   an official representative.

5. (of an activity or event) intended for the notice of the public and performed or held on behalf of officials or of an organization; formal.

   the official opening of a store.

6. Pharmacology.,  noting drugs or drug preparations that are recognized by and that conform to the standards of the United States Pharmacopeia or the National Formulary.

official

¹

/ əˈfɪʃəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to an office, its administration, or its duration

2. sanctioned by, recognized by, or derived from authority

   an official statement

3. appointed by authority, esp for some special duty

4. having a formal ceremonial character

   an official dinner

noun

1. a person who holds a position in an organization, government department, etc, esp a subordinate position

Official

²

/ əˈfɪʃəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to one of the two factions of the IRA and Sinn Féin, created by a split in 1969. The Official movement subsequently renounced terrorism and entered constitutional politics in the Irish Republic as the Workers' Party (now the Democratic Left)

noun

1. a member of the Official IRA and Sinn Féin

Other Word Forms

• officially adverb
• nonofficial adjective
• nonofficially adverb
• preofficial adjective
• preofficially adverb
• pseudoofficial adjective
• pseudoofficially adverb
• quasi-official adjective
• quasi-officially adverb
• subofficial noun
• subofficially adverb
• underofficial adjective
• unofficial adjective
• unofficially adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of official¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Late Latin officiālis “of duty,” equivalent to Latin offici(um) “service, duty” + -ālis adjective suffix; office, -al ¹

Example Sentences

Although bandits have no ideological leaning and are motivated by financial gain, their close alliance with jihadists waging an armed rebellion in the northeast has alarmed officials and security experts.

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Georgian prosecutors raided the homes of some of the country's most powerful former officials on Friday, including ex–prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, signalling what may be a shakeup within the country's ruling elite.

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However, their vantage point on the health of the world economy has been clouded since the start of the month by the lack of available official data due to the ongoing US government shutdown.

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It is also in keeping with the Justice Department’s tradition of aggressively prosecuting government officials who allegedly mishandle classified information.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s official: You’ve lived long enough to see the age of flying cars—privately owned, solo-piloted aircraft, free to operate in unrestricted airspace, much as cars can take to the open road.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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