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

Three people were fatally shot inside the tavern, Fred Kekana, the police commissioner of the Gauteng province, told reporters on Sunday. —Liezl Thom, ABC News, 21 Dec. 2025

Those two Democrats won in campaigns that centered on six Georgia Power rate increases commissioners have allowed in recent years, even though the company agreed to a three-year rate freeze in July. —Jeff Amy, Fortune, 21 Dec. 2025

Wen is an emergency physician and adjunct associate professor at George Washington University who previously was Baltimore’s health commissioner. —Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 21 Dec. 2025

The auditorium at Miami Dade College’s downtown campus had standing room only, packed full of supporters and politicos, including Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who sat with outgoing Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and all five city commissioners in the front row. —Miami Herald, 19 Dec. 2025

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