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

Taub applied to be a commissioner of the South Broward Hospital District when there was an open position in early 2020, but did not receive the appointment at that time. —Cindy Krischer Goodman, Sun Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2025

President Donald Trump's nominee to be the new U.S. commissioner of Labor Statistics recently suggested the agency stop issuing monthly jobs reports until the methodology used to compute the figures is changed. —Joey Garrison, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025

During World War II, labor unions bitterly attacked the bureau’s acting commissioner, accusing him of failing to adequately measure wartime inflation in order to preserve lower wage rates. —Thomas Stapleford, Chicago Tribune, 11 Aug. 2025

But the quote applies even more strongly to President Donald Trump’s lying about the validity of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job numbers released last week and then firing its very capable commissioner. —Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 10 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