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
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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
Geoffrey Mason was barely 30, a control-room functionary working a down day at the 1972 Munich Olympics, when history called on a push-button phone.
—
Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2024
Unlike the party functionaries picked previously, all three grew up in the labor movement.
—John Samuelsen, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025
As the German journalist Ronen Steinke argues in his own first-rate biography, Bauer’s greatest achievement was a sprawling trial of some 20 German officers and functionaries at Auschwitz, held in a Frankfurt courtroom in the mid-60s.
—Gary J. Bass, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
The play drew on the verbatim testimony of SS officers, Nazi functionaries and camp survivors, to reconstruct the genocidal horror in harrowing, undeniable detail.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for functionary
Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2024
Unlike the party functionaries picked previously, all three grew up in the labor movement.
—John Samuelsen, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025
As the German journalist Ronen Steinke argues in his own first-rate biography, Bauer’s greatest achievement was a sprawling trial of some 20 German officers and functionaries at Auschwitz, held in a Frankfurt courtroom in the mid-60s.
—Gary J. Bass, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
The play drew on the verbatim testimony of SS officers, Nazi functionaries and camp survivors, to reconstruct the genocidal horror in harrowing, undeniable detail.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for functionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for functionary
Noun
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Nonprofits serve our communities directly, often in close partnership with law enforcement and other city officials.—
Arick Wierson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 May 2025
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The injuries were not life-threatening, officials said.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
29 May 2025
Noun
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Moreover, tensions are emerging among Russian elites as a result of Putin’s efforts to push aside existing business leaders, bureaucrats, and others in favor of loyalists who adhere to the regime’s ideology or at least pay lip service to it, such as war veterans.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
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The Empire is full of bickering bureaucrats, which is fun to watch though bad for getting the Death Star done in a timely manner, and Darth Vader power walks into scenes that both undermine his icon status yet also cement it.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 May 2025
Noun
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Raised in Benton, Childress attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and served for a decade as a law enforcement officer in Saline County.—
Josh Snyder,
Arkansas Online,
27 May 2025
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Occupations Spanberger worked on narcotics and money laundering cases as a federal law enforcement officer in the Postal Inspection Service and then at the CIA as a case officer.—
Morgan Kromer,
The Washington Examiner,
27 May 2025
Noun
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Months later, police arrested Hoffman, a store clerk, and he was found guilty of beating the young father-to-be with a claw hammer and shooting him.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
7 June 2025
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The clerk opened the register and stuffed his bag with cash before the man fled on foot.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
4 June 2025
Noun
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Vanguard chose the university area and the region because of its access to talented workers and colleges, Manry said.—
Chase Jordan,
Charlotte Observer,
3 June 2025
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Former President Barack Obama and Steve Bannon, a White House strategist during President Donald Trump’s first term, are both worried about the same thing: artificial intelligence displacing large numbers of white-collar workers.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Noun
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In November, a 12-person jury unanimously found Royal Bengal’s former president guilty of conspiring with other employees, wire fraud and money laundering.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2025
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But more than 700 park service employees did accept buyouts, leaving fewer workers to collect entrance fees, clean toilets or help with search-and-rescue efforts.—
Kevinisha Walker,
Los Angeles Times,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Functionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/functionary. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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