functionary

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

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

The party, not the government, dictates policy and the foreign minister is essentially a functionary.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023

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

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