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

Anything seems possible with this commissioner, this group of owners and this climate of disruption for disruption’s sake. —Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2025

Both brothers went through educational and rehabilitative programs in the last few decades, which commissioners praised. —Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2025

Nelson and Cavell also joined with Republican commissioners to try and keep their seats on commission committees, but the Democratic majority agreed to formalize Woodward's decision last month to pull the two commissioners from their committee assignments. —Dave Boucher, Freep.com, 24 Aug. 2025

But before the commissioners could discuss Touchstone’s special counsel resolution, according to livestreamed video of the meeting, a squabble broke out between Vice Mayor Joy Smith and Commissioner Brandon Smith. —Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 23 Aug. 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