commissioner

noun

com·​mis·​sion·​er kə-ˈmi-sh(ə-)nər 

: a person with a commission: such as

a

: a member of a commission

b

: the representative of the governmental authority in a district, province, or other unit often having both judicial and administrative powers

c

: the officer in charge of a department or bureau of the public service

d

: the administrative head of a professional sport

commissionership

kə-ˈmi-sh(ə-)nər-ˌship 

noun

Examples of commissioner in a Sentence

The baseball commissioner decided to suspend the players for 10 games.

Recent Examples on the Web

Miami commissioners voted 4-1 to support the stadium and commercial development. —Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2026

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat who’s running for insurance commissioner, concurred with his assessment that lawmakers couldn’t kill the project. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 28 Mar. 2026

As a result, international fans of all ages are tapped into the NFL game, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the rest of the league office have made a concerted effort to allow those fans to see live-action NFL play in their home countries. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 28 Mar. 2026

The risk When Manfred took over as MLB commissioner 11 years ago, baseball had long been surpassed by football as the country’s most popular sport and was in an existential fight to stay relevant to younger fans. —Andrew Greif, NBC news, 28 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "person empowered to carry out defined duties," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin commissiōnārius, from commissiōn-, commissiō commission entry 1 + Latin -ārius -ary entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing commissioner

• high commissioner
• resident commissioner

Rhymes for commissioner

• conditioner
• parishioner
• petitioner
• positioner
• practitioner
• missioner

Kids Definition

commissioner

noun

com·​mis·​sion·​er kə-ˈmish-(ə-)nər 

1

: a member of a commission

2

: an official in charge of a government department

Police Commissioner

Legal Definition

commissioner

noun

com·​mis·​sion·​er

: a person with a commission: as

a

: a member of a commission

b

often capitalized : the officer in charge of a government agency

a police commissioner