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 commissioner was in town for Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Indianapolis Colts, the first regular season NFL game ever played in Berlin. —Max Tani, semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2025

Paul Tagliabue, who served as NFL commissioner from 1989 to 2006, has died after a battle with Parkinson’s disease, his family said on Sunday. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 9 Nov. 2025

Tagliabue, who had developed Parkinson's disease, was commissioner after Pete Rozelle from 1989 to 2006. —NPR, 9 Nov. 2025

On Friday, commissioners entered executive session to interview those candidates behind closed doors. —Joseph Flaherty, Arkansas Online, 8 Nov. 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