1
as in official
a person who holds a public office
spoke to high-ranking functionaries at the embassy in the hopes that they could help
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in bureaucrat
a worker in a government agency
the faceless functionaries at the Internal Revenue Service
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of functionary
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
See All Example Sentences for functionary
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
See All Example Sentences for functionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for functionary
Noun
-
Investigating active government officials in Mexico is a new strategy for the United States, which in the past refrained from targeting sitting leaders in allied countries with criminal investigations because of the clear political ramifications.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
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Schloesser, who has worked at Amazon for nearly six years, urged Seattle officials to require data center developers to commit to using renewable energy to power facilities and no longer use non-disclosure agreements or shell companies when announcing new projects.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
Additionally, those Latino Trumpers do not like bureaucrats.—
Carlos De Loera,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
-
Over the past year, a group of lawyers recorded 486 state treason and espionage cases brought against Russian scientists, bureaucrats, military figures, and other government employees.—
Anna Nemtsova,
Time,
23 May 2026
Noun
-
Clovis Police Department vehicles were parked in the vicinity, and multiple officers came to oversee the confrontation when the shouting began.—
Jackson Thompson OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
31 May 2026
-
In 2024 and 2025, four hearing officers in the appeals unit filed complaints against the department, leading to three internal investigations by human resources, according to a separate, outside probe conducted by Flynn Investigations Group, a firm specializing in workplace reviews.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
31 May 2026
Noun
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Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk who was convicted in a scheme to breach voting systems in search of evidence of election fraud in 2020, was released from prison Monday.—
Laura Romero,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
-
Process reforms When an owner falls behind on property taxes, the county clerk can place a lien — a legal claim against a person's assets to ensure their debt is paid — on the property.—
Jenna Schweikert,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Gang intervention workers have been credited by city officials as one of the factors behind significant reductions in violent crime in recent years, with homicides and shootings both falling to near-historic lows.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
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The implosion occurred during a shift change, and the six workers whose bodies were found were in an area of the site where workers would go before their shift, Matt Amos, Longview fire battalion chief, said, per The Guardian.—
Adam England,
PEOPLE,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
The nine missing people are all employees of the mill.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
29 May 2026
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The union also pointed to data that the state published shortly after adopting telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, celebrating how remote work decreased Californian’s emissions and saved state employees’ money.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
28 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Functionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/functionary. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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