commissioner

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

|Updated on: 4 Jun 2018

Examples: commissioner in a Sentence

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

El-Sayed, 33, is the former Detroit health commissioner and one of three candidates running for the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s gubernatorial race.

— Time, "The Michigan Governor's Race is a Glimpse of the Democratic Party's Future," 31 May 2018
Goggin is also a commissioner for accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and was a board member on the National Council of Arts Administrators.

— domenica bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star, "The Herron School of Art and Design has a new leader," 31 May 2018
Their request was turned down unanimously by the three commissioners.

— guy boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Customer groups get nowhere in request to set aside the savings from We Energies' shutting down the Pleasant Prairie plant," 24 May 2018
The Chapter 353 Advisory Board recommended the abatement despite significant hesitation by some commissioners who said developers shouldn't need tax breaks given the success of the One Light and Two Light apartment buildings.

— allison kite, kansascity, "KC incentives for Three Light apartment tower win support, but with strings | The Kansas City Star," 23 May 2018
The awards, approved Tuesday by Orange County commissioners, are important to the nonprofit groups but amount to a tiny slice of the revenue pie generated by the 6 percent bed-tax tacked onto the cost of a hotel room.

— stephen hudak, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Holocaust Center, Science Center, Orlando ballet projects win bed-tax cash for improvements," 23 May 2018
In 1975, as part of its restructuring under Mann, the L.P.G.A. hired Ray Volpe, a veteran sports executive, as its first commissioner.

— richard sandomir, New York Times, "Carol Mann, Golf Star and L.P.G.A. Leader, Is Dead at 77," 22 May 2018
The Gary Library Board has three members chosen by the Gary Community School Corp., two more by Lake County commissioners and one by Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, in addition to the Common Council’s pick.

— gregory tejeda, Post-Tribune, "Appointment brings Gary Library Board back to 7 members, despite objections," 17 May 2018
Its new commissioner, Rohit Chopra, wrote in a memorandum on Monday that repeat corporate offenders should get hit with more serious penalties.

— david dayen, The New Republic, "The Ticket Monopoly Is Worse Than Ever (Thanks, Obama)," 15 May 2018

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.

Origin and Etymology of commissioner

Middle English, "person empowered to carry out defined duties," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin commissiōnārius, from commissiōn-, commissiō ¹commission + Latin -ārius ¹-ary

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First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined above

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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)