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Synonyms

functionary

American  
[fuhngk-shuh-ner-ee] / ˈfʌŋk ʃəˌnɛr i /

noun

plural

functionaries

  1. a person who functions in a specified capacity, especially in government service; an official.

    civil servants, bureaucrats, and other functionaries.
functionary British  
/ ˈfʌŋkʃənərɪ /

noun

  1. a person acting in an official capacity, as for a government; an official

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. a less common word for functional official

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of functionary

1785–95; function + -ary, modeled on French fonctionnaire

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But unlike those later writers—elites who served as government functionaries—Felix is merely “the son of a poor schoolmaster.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and other Kremlin functionaries live in highly-secure estates near the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway west of Moscow, a suburban community dubbed “Moscow Beverly Hills.”

From Salon

The novel echoes thinkers like Hannah Arendt in pointing out how true-believing functionaries, the butt of ridicule in “normal” times, can help subsume all reason and decency to usurp a compliant and too-comfortable ruling class.

From The Wall Street Journal

He, not his faithful functionaries, needs to take the blame.

From The Wall Street Journal

Because he was an obscure functionary, the lawmaker assumed that he would be an Aaron, Moses’ brother and supporter.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.