func·tion·ar·y

(fŭngk′shə-nĕr′ē)

n. pl. func·tion·ar·ies

One who holds an office or a trust or performs a particular function; an official.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

functionary

(ˈfʌŋkʃənərɪ)

n, pl -aries

a person acting in an official capacity, as for a government; an official

adj

a less common word for functional, official

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

func•tion•ar•y

(ˈfʌŋk ʃəˌnɛr i)

n., pl. -ar•ies.

a person who functions in a specified capacity; an official: civil servants and other functionaries.

[1785–95; < French]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

functionary - a worker who holds or is invested with an office

official

appointee - an official who is appointed

bailiff - an officer of the court who is employed to execute writs and processes and make arrests etc.

beadle - a minor parish official who serves a ceremonial function

administrative official, bureaucrat - an official of a bureaucracy

caretaker - an official who performs the duties of an office temporarily; "he acted as a caretaker until a new president could be elected"

censor - a person who is authorized to read publications or correspondence or to watch theatrical performances and suppress in whole or in part anything considered obscene or politically unacceptable

census taker, enumerator - someone who collects census data by visiting individual homes

church officer - a church official

city father - an important municipal official

civil servant - a public official who is a member of the civil service

commissar, political commissar - an official of the Communist Party who was assigned to teach party principles to a military unit

Comptroller General - a United States federal official who supervises expenditures and settles claims against the government

Comptroller of the Currency - a United States federal official who regulates the national banks

diplomat, diplomatist - an official engaged in international negotiations

elected official - official who won the office in a free election

equerry - an official charged with the care of the horses of princes or nobles

fire marshall - an official who is responsible for the prevention and investigation of fires

fire warden, forest fire fighter, ranger - an official who is responsible for managing and protecting an area of forest

hearing examiner, hearing officer - an official appointed by a government agency to conduct an investigation or administrative hearing so that the agency can exercise its statutory powers

holdover, hangover - an official who remains in office after his term

incumbent, officeholder - the official who holds an office

Inquisitor - an official of the ecclesiastical court of the Inquisition

invalidator, voider, nullifier - an official who can invalidate or nullify; "my bank check was voided and I wanted to know who the invalidator was"

judge, jurist, justice - a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice

licenser - an official who can issue a license or give authoritative permission (especially one who licenses publications)

macebearer, macer, mace - an official who carries a mace of office

mandarin - any high government official or bureaucrat

notary, notary public - someone legally empowered to witness signatures and certify a document's validity and to take depositions

noticer - someone who gives formal notice

officeholder, officer - someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust; "he is an officer of the court"; "the club elected its officers for the coming year"

federal agent, agent - any agent or representative of a federal agency or bureau

provincial - (Roman Catholic Church) an official in charge of an ecclesiastical province acting under the superior general of a religious order; "the general of the Jesuits receives monthly reports from the provincials"

postmaster general - the official in charge of the national postal service

proconsul - an official in a modern colony who has considerable administrative power

prosecuting attorney, prosecuting officer, prosecutor, public prosecutor - a government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state

quaestor - any of several public officials of ancient Rome (usually in charge of finance and administration)

recruiter - an official who enlists personnel for military service

record-keeper, recorder, registrar - someone responsible for keeping records

regulator - an official responsible for control and supervision of a particular activity or area of public interest

returning officer - the official in each electorate who holds the election and returns the results

sealer - an official who affixes a seal to a document

searcher - a customs official whose job is to search baggage or goods or vehicles for contraband or dutiable items

skilled worker, skilled workman, trained worker - a worker who has acquired special skills

vote counter, teller - an official appointed to count the votes (especially in legislative assembly)

functionary

noun officer, official, dignitary, office holder, office bearer, employee a properly elected state functionary

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

fonctionnaire

funzionario

functionary

[ˈfʌŋkʃənərɪ] N → funcionario/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

functionary

n → Funktionär(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

functionary

[ˈfʌŋkʃ/ənərɪ] n → funzionario/a

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

A HIGH Public Functionary having died, the citizens of his town held a meeting to consider how to honour his memory, and an Other High Public Functionary rose and addressed the meeting.

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And when that functionary appeared before him, he bade him without delay set about making a new leg, and directed the mates to see him supplied with all the studs and joists of jaw-ivory (Sperm Whale) which had thus far been accumulated on the voyage, in order that a careful selection of the stoutest, clearest-grained stuff might be secured.

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"But you don't mean that a functionary is not a clerk?

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"The thief is certainly a member of Lady Lydiard's household," this functionary remarked, in his politely-positive way.

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The complication was of this nature: Alexey Alexandrovitch's characteristic quality as a politician, that special individual qualification that every rising functionary possesses, the qualification that with his unflagging ambition, his reserve, his honesty, and with his self-confidence had made his career, was his contempt for red tape, his cutting down of correspondence, his direct contact, wherever possible, with the living fact, and his economy.

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Day looked up at the high functionary who thus unbent to them with very little change of countenance; then looked at each other in the same way.

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"Forward then, my respectable privy councillor," replied Colonel Philippe, whistling to the dogs, who seemed more willing to obey him than the public functionary to whom they belonged.

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Monsieur Gabelle was the Postmaster, and some other taxing functionary united; he had come out with great obsequiousness to assist at this examination, and had held the examined by the drapery of his arm in an official manner.

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A package of banknotes, to the value of fifty-five thousand pounds, had been taken from the principal cashier's table, that functionary being at the moment engaged in registering the receipt of three shillings and sixpence.

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At twelve this man was replaced by another functionary, and Danglars, wishing to catch sight of his new guardian, approached the door again.

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The functionary next in consequence to the agent was the blacksmith, a most important, and, indeed, indispensable personage in a frontier community.

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The provision I am most anxious about is this." He unrolled a large parchment scroll, and read aloud the words "'item, that we will be kind to the poor.' The Chancellor worded it for me," he added, glancing at that great Functionary. "I suppose, now, that word 'item' has some deep legal meaning?"

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