commissioner

noun com·mis·sion·er \ kə-ˈmi-sh(ə-)nər \

Definition of commissioner

: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

play \kə-ˈmi-sh(ə-)nər-ˌship\ noun

See commissioner defined for English-language learners

See commissioner defined for kids

Examples of commissioner in a Sentence

The baseball commissioner decided to suspend the players for 10 games.

Recent Examples of commissioner from the Web

On hand to support the artist was Shant Sahakian, commissioner on the Glendale Art and Culture Commission and Glendale Unified board member.

— ruth sowby, Glendale News-Press, "On the Town: Bingo night sells out, raises funds for veterans’ programs," 29 Aug. 2017
For all the criticism of the Pac-12 Networks, the voices that matter most — the conference’s presidents and chancellors — are more than pleased with the networks and commissioner Larry Scott’s leadership.

— jon wilner, The Seattle Times, "What do university presidents think of the Pac-12 Networks? ‘It’s a fantastic asset’," 28 Aug. 2017
Doug Jones, the Birmingham lawyer and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, said Wednesday that county commissioners and local public officials in Alabama should decide the fate of Confederate monuments.

— john sharp, AL.com, "Doug Jones says counties and cities should determine fates of Confederate monuments," 23 Aug. 2017
Sempra’s offer must still clear the bankruptcy court and win the approval of the two Texas PUC commissioners among other regulatory approvals.

— ryan collins, Bloomberg.com, "Sempra Bests Berkshire With $9.45 Billion Offer for Oncor," 21 Aug. 2017
It is erected as much to signal the sentiments of the commissioners as to honor noteworthy lives.

— andrew c. mccarthy, National Review, "On Charlottesville, Trump, and Anti-Americanism," 19 Aug. 2017
Darren McFadden got the start against the Rams and will be on the field for the season opener against the New York Giants, barring an unprecedented reversal on appeal by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

— clarence e. hill jr., star-telegram, "Glimpse of Cowboys’ running game without Ezekiel Elliott leaves case of the blahs," 12 Aug. 2017
The commissioner was in town Wednesday to speak to softball players taking part in the RBI World Series.

— paul daugherty, The Courier-Journal, "Doc: Manfred doesn’t see any problems, but he isn’t a fan watching Reds," 9 Aug. 2017
As Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner national security Michael Phelan explained during an August 4 press conference, both attacks were directly supported by ISIS in the form of sending weapons-grade explosives by air cargo from Turkey.

— robert newhouse, Teen Vogue, "States Treating Prospect of Solar Eclipse-Tourism like a Natural Disaster," 4 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'commissioner.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of commissioner

15th century

COMMISSIONER Defined for English Language Learners

commissioner

noun

Definition of commissioner for English Language Learners

: a member of a commission : one of a group of people who have been given the official job of finding information about something or controlling something
: an official who is in charge of a government department or part of a government department
: an official who is in charge of a major professional sport (such as baseball, football, or hockey)