mandarins

noun

plural of mandarin
as in officials
a worker in a government agency the officious mandarins in the motor vehicles department refused to let me renew my license without all of the required forms

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mandarins There are several oranges, mandarins, a lemon and finger lime. — Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2026 And as Netanyahu’s coalitions hardened Schleien’s programs became edgier, skewering Netanyahu sycophants in the Likud Party, anti-élitist demagogues, cultic settlers, and rabbinic mandarins. — Bernard Avishai, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026 Thankfully, a handful of citrus trees, including lemons, limes, and mandarins, can thrive in containers. — Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 24 May 2026 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 Harvest for mandarins can begin as early as November and last through April. — Sacbee.com, 24 Mar. 2026 Oranges, grapefruits, lemons, mandarins, pomelos, and kumquats are among the most nutrient-dense citrus fruits. — Zia Sherrell, Health, 7 Feb. 2026 Notes of ripe, fresh mangoes, fragrant mandarins, and blood oranges, and undertones of lemon leaf spark energy and invigoration. — Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mandarins
  1. officials
  2. bureaucrats
  3. employees
  4. functionaries
  5. clerks
  6. workers
Noun
  • The ‘next step’ On a sunny September day last year in the Chinese port city of Ningbo, not far from Shanghai, higher-ups from shipping company Sea Legend mingled with local transport officials at a port terminal.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Overnight a shift in wind direction raised the risk that the flames could reach Gey by morning, prompting officials to order the initial evacuation.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of officials
Noun
  • This entails handing out thousands of patronage jobs to rabbis, bureaucrats, undertakers, and inspectors.
    — Bernard Avishai, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026
  • The bureaucrats in Brussels are struggling to keep up with the breakneck pace of technological progress.
    — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of bureaucrats
Noun
  • More damaging, employees gradually learn that raising concerns means navigating the leader's emotional reaction before addressing the actual issue.
    — Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Or, that some of those same city employees would set up web cameras so that hundreds of residents could watch the baby falcons grow up in their nest on a ledge outside City Hall.
    — Addison Wright, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of employees
Noun
  • Both Washington and Mexico City have launched crackdowns against a complex web of unscrupulous functionaries, front companies and document fraudsters, among others.
    — Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026
  • To the extent that their fellow-citizens refer to them at all, our government functionaries are perceived not as active agents of change but as inert, self-protecting obstructions.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 4 July 2026
Definition of functionaries
Noun
  • Each morning, before much of Broward County is awake, prosecutors, defense attorneys, deputies, clerks and court staff carry the weight of this process together.
    — Corey B. Friedman, Sun Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Criminal charges against Smith had not yet been filed in Calaveras Superior Court, clerks there said Wednesday afternoon.
    — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of clerks
Noun
  • The aid workers who once regularly visited her village to help pregnant women had stopped coming, after foreign aid cuts by the United States shuttered a program aimed at saving mothers’ and babies’ lives.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The idea is for tech workers to live and work in the same building.
    — John Ramos, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of workers

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mandarin
mandarins
mandate
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Cite this Entry

“Mandarins.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mandarins. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on mandarins

Nglish: Translation of mandarins for Spanish Speakers

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