1
as in officials
a person who holds a public office
spoke to high-ranking functionaries at the embassy in the hopes that they could help
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2
as in bureaucrats
a worker in a government agency
the faceless functionaries at the Internal Revenue Service
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Recent Examples of functionaries
More than funding, though, is needed transparency by IDNR functionaries with marina boaters and Winthrop Harbor officials.
—
Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2026
Their prestige suffers because it is conflated in the public’s mind with long lines at the DMV, fastidious building inspectors, parking tickets—the stuff of local functionaries.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026
Proposal 5 was actually a bit of skilled electoral craft on the part of the city’s map functionaries.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
Bigelow’s sympathetic eye for her functionaries risks the film being misread as an argument for more robust military funding.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025
Evil is aided and abetted by the banality of institutions and their functionaries.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
Since then, there have been many more arrests—especially of regional functionaries at various levels.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2025
But this newsletter is more focused on how Trump and his fawning functionaries speak about and for him.
—Chris Brennan, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Surrounded by allies, rivals, and functionaries with their own agendas, Roh navigates a dense network of relationships in his bid to claim the top seat for himself.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2026
Their prestige suffers because it is conflated in the public’s mind with long lines at the DMV, fastidious building inspectors, parking tickets—the stuff of local functionaries.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026
Proposal 5 was actually a bit of skilled electoral craft on the part of the city’s map functionaries.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
Bigelow’s sympathetic eye for her functionaries risks the film being misread as an argument for more robust military funding.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025
Evil is aided and abetted by the banality of institutions and their functionaries.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
Since then, there have been many more arrests—especially of regional functionaries at various levels.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2025
But this newsletter is more focused on how Trump and his fawning functionaries speak about and for him.
—Chris Brennan, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Surrounded by allies, rivals, and functionaries with their own agendas, Roh navigates a dense network of relationships in his bid to claim the top seat for himself.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for functionaries
Noun
-
When the Mission gang scandal burst into public view, department officials publicly called it an isolated problem of rogue gang officers.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 May 2026
-
There have been at least five such attacks on healthcare workers over the course of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, UN officials said.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
The free market allows discovery of best ways to inhibit and punish undesirable behavior — ways politicians and bureaucrats could never discover.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
-
Their search for additional protagonists eventually led them to Dana Vitkovska, a Ukrainian transgender multidisciplinary artist living in Warsaw, whose journey to construct her identity on her own terms sets her at odds with Polish bureaucrats.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
After some counting—and the consulting of an Excel spreadsheet—the officers determined that Silvia and Guojun were the parents of twenty-one children in total, nearly all under the age of three.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
-
After a series of coups by officers dissatisfied with lagging counterterrorism efforts, juntas in the three countries booted France altogether, establishing close ties with Russia instead.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
Not far from where the two sat, a customer service light flickered on and off, but no employees manned the help desk.—
Audrey Pachuta,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2026
-
As of December, Cloudflare had 5,156 employees.—
Queenie Wong,
Los Angeles Times,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
The convictions included 50 lawyers, as well as court clerks, police officers and sheriff’s deputies.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
4 May 2026
-
Republicans say the legislation consolidates the civil and criminal court clerks' offices in Orleans Parish, putting it in line with all other parishes in the state, which have a single clerk's office.—
SARA CLINE,
Arkansas Online,
3 May 2026
Noun
-
Alarmed by growing difficulties for skyway-level residents, workers and shop owners, Kehmeier joined forces with fellow skyway denizens to launch Friends of the Skyway in January.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
10 May 2026
-
Lately, a solid consumer has left retailers confident enough to hire more workers to stock shelves or staff cash registers.—
Alex Harring,
CNBC,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
Are mandarins and oranges good for you?—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Repeat with the remaining mandarins, adding more cornstarch as needed.—
Kelly McCarthy,
ABC News,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Functionaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/functionaries. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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