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functionary

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


NOUN
bureaucrat
Synonyms




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.

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President Masoud Pezeshkian is a functionary, selected in haste in 2024 to replace Ebrahim Raisi, whose helicopter crashed into a mountain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

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

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2025

One of my professors, Harry Wexler, had been a young functionary under the midcentury mayor-for-life Dick Lee.

From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2025

Fred Specktor, in his son’s eyes, isn’t a mere functionary but a man who tried to retain the elements of agenting that felt like making art — negotiation, persuasion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025

Immediately above it, hidden from visitors’ eyes, sat a priestly functionary, who provided the god’s voice.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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 ● Mar. 24, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025

The most important people in the country all along were the rule-followers—corporate attorneys, regional judges, visa-processing functionaries, tax assessors, customs officials, food and drug regulators.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2025

That so many corrupt functionaries and cartel capos ultimately face responsibility in the United States — and not in Mexico — underscores a fundamental weakness of the Mexican justice system, observers say.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2025

As one group of highly placed religious functionaries to another, don’t do this to us!

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann




Vocabulary lists containing functionary


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