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
Relevance
2
as in bureaucrat
a worker in a government agency
the faceless functionaries at the Internal Revenue Service
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 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
-
To back off from that charge, district officials proposed raising average class sizes in kindergarten through fourth grade from 24-to-1 to 28-to-1, according to the district.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Allen attempted to storm the dinner on foot, carrying multiple guns and knives, and planned to kill top officials, starting with the highest-ranking, according to the criminal complaint.—
Aysha Bagchi,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
When city bureaucrats saw as liabilities schools that had been denied resources, parents saw community anchors.—
Stacy Davis Gates,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Apr. 2026
-
This would reset the balance between the executive and legislative branches, demanding the House and Senate not cede excessive authority to unelected bureaucrats who are only too happy to usurp legislative powers.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
18 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Law-enforcement officers, clad in helmets and flak jackets and wielding long guns, materialized on the stage.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
-
His grandfather, Chris Heidenreich, was a naval officer, and his uncle, Chip Heidenreich, served as a corpsman with the Marines.—
Armando Salguero OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The original 10-point ethics complaint, filed by eight Skokie residents last February, alleged Johnson violated the village’s ethics code by using the public comment podium on multiple occasions for political purposes (Johnson was then running for village clerk).—
Claire Murphy,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The investigation, supported by an audit by Arkansas Legislative Audit, determined Hulen misappropriated $2,210 in court fine payments while employed as the court clerk.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This cost is nominally shared between employers and employees, but workers bear the real burden through both paycheck deductions and forgone wages.—
Jordan Bruneau,
Boston Herald,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Research published last year on Japanese nursing homes found that robot adoption reduced worker quit rates and was associated with better care quality.—
Catherine Thorbecke,
Twin Cities,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
According to one former Kinahan employee, McGovern was a generous and well-liked person during his stint in Dubai, and was known as a heavy tipper.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Legends fictionalizes the true story of British customs employees who went undercover in the '90s to infiltrate drug smuggling gangs.—
Madeleine Janz,
PEOPLE,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Functionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/functionary. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
