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

How to watch The commissioners will meet at 10 a.m. in the Todd B. Portune Center for County Government at 138 E Court St. in Cincinnati. —Erin Glynn, The Enquirer, 31 July 2025

In June, Marty Makary, who is currently the FDA commissioner, bestowed upon him an even more important role: chief medical and scientific officer of the entire agency. —Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 31 July 2025

After the commissioner spoke, The Athletic reported former player and current MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa, who accompanied Manfred, stuck around to talk further. —Brittany Ghiroli, New York Times, 30 July 2025

While the state education commissioner maintains that lower scores are a result of lower performance, some lawmakers and school districts are blasting the new state rubric as unfairly moving the goalposts for campuses. —Keri Heath, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 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