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

After a lengthy discussion about the effectiveness of the TADs and their potential burden on Fulton’s tax base, commissioners voted 4-1 not to take part. — Shaddi Abusaid, AJC.com, 16 July 2026

Andrew Harnik | Getty Images Only three out of five commissioners at the SEC are currently seated and all of them are Republican. — Ananya Chetia,davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 16 July 2026

Those proposals didn’t make it to the final 2026 budget after pushback from commissioners and transit advocates. — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 16 July 2026

No Republican has won statewide office in California since Arnold Schwarzenegger was reelected governor and Steve Poizner won the insurance commissioner’s race in 2006. — Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 16 July 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