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

Hennepin County commissioners plan to appoint an outside board of experts in finances, policy and lawmaking to support the CEO and staff. —Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield, CBS News, 9 June 2026

And as commissioner of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, the former Dodgers assistant general manager has been fielding lots of tearful feedback from fans overcome by the fact that softball players finally, finally have a big league of their own. —Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026

Tarrant County commissioners declined to commend the HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health’s 30 years of service with a resolution at their meeting Tuesday. —Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 June 2026

To fill the void of what would have been Game 5, ESPN handed McAfee a primetime special featuring major sports commissioners, including MLB's Rob Manfred, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, UFC president Dana White and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. —Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 9 June 2026

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