Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for functionary. Search instead for funktionsart.
Definitions

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.

See Examples For:

Entertaining down to the last minute, the Bastille Opera finally opened its season with a sad-faced functionary who stepped in front of the curtain to tell us that the “Simone Boccanegra” baritone was indisposed.

From The Wall Street Journal May 7, 2026

The piece suggests this physical restraint conveyed an image of a cautious functionary rather than a dynamic leader capable of governing California during turbulent times.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 23, 2026

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

From Slate Sep. 21, 2025

Adolf Ziegler, the Nazi functionary charged with overseeing the exhibition, perceived no ambiguity.

From Salon Jun. 8, 2025

Finally, we were escorted down the hall by a nervous little functionary, who kept checking his watch and motioning for us to hurry along.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

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

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 Dec. 12, 2025

A few questioned whether the Wikimedia Foundation was taking threats seriously enough when they were raised by the site’s volunteer administrators and functionaries.

From Slate Oct. 22, 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

A castrated man; especially, one of those who were employed as harem attendants or functionaries in certain Oriental courts.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides




Vocabulary lists containing functionary


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training