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

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

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

Maybe Melvin Butler was progressive for his time and place, or maybe he was just a functionary carrying out his duty.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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

After the consumer safety and environmental movements in the 1960s, a backlash emerged from businesses, where critics argued that government functionaries who were not accountable to voters were issuing regulations whose costs outweighed their benefits.

From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

He was recruited to do this job, not by Kyril Montana, but rather by some other higher-up undercover police functionaries who had decided Montana’s approach to the whole affair was much too conservative.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols