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

The Tour’s boards also approved Rolapp to succeed Jay Monahan as commissioner following Monahan’s retirement at the end of the year, the Tour said Tuesday. — Dominic Chu, CNBC, 23 June 2026

Residents also packed commissioners court meetings to speak against Comanche Circle and the NRG power plant. — Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 June 2026

Now, only a few months later, Bevacqua and three of the four P4 commissioners suddenly support doubling the size of the CFP to 24. — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 23 June 2026

One of the commissioners is Joe Crowley, who was famously unseated in his primary by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. — Christopher Hooks, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 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