Thesaurus results for FUNCTIONARIES

functionaries

noun

plural of functionary

as in officials

a person who holds a public office spoke to high-ranking functionaries at the embassy in the hopes that they could help

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as in bureaucrats

a worker in a government agency the faceless functionaries at the Internal Revenue Service

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of functionaries Both Washington and Mexico City have launched crackdowns against a complex web of unscrupulous functionaries, front companies and document fraudsters, among others. — Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026 To the extent that their fellow-citizens refer to them at all, our government functionaries are perceived not as active agents of change but as inert, self-protecting obstructions. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 4 July 2026 More than funding, though, is needed transparency by IDNR functionaries with marina boaters and Winthrop Harbor officials. — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2026 Their prestige suffers because it is conflated in the public’s mind with long lines at the DMV, fastidious building inspectors, parking tickets—the stuff of local functionaries. — Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026 Bigelow’s sympathetic eye for her functionaries risks the film being misread as an argument for more robust military funding. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025 Evil is aided and abetted by the banality of institutions and their functionaries. — Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025 Since then, there have been many more arrests—especially of regional functionaries at various levels. — Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2025 But this newsletter is more focused on how Trump and his fawning functionaries speak about and for him. — Chris Brennan, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for functionaries

Noun

Social events where fraternities and sororities mix with one another and with unaffiliated members are usually at least registered with university officials.

— Richard Hall, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
An inmate died in an apparent homicide Tuesday morning after an attack by another prisoner at California State Prison, Sacramento, state corrections officials said.

— Michael McGough, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of officials

Noun

These innovations may reduce the number of bureaucrats autocrats need.

— Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026
At the same time, some critics worried that the Obama-era guidance had gone too far, tasking college bureaucrats with investigating criminal allegations and diluting due process.

— Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of bureaucrats

Noun

All officers on the scenes of vehicle stops must wear and activate their body cameras, under the guidance.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
With early voting already underway, a question worrying some voters is what role — if any — immigration enforcement officers might have at polling places through Election Day.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of officers

Noun

Norma Mitchell, cofounder of the business and grandmother of its current top executives, died of the disease, and many other family members, employees and customers have been touched by it.

— Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026
Nearly eight in 10 Marriott associates in Europe say they are offered training or development to further themselves professionally, compared with just over half of employees at a typical European workplace.

— Ted Kitterman, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of employees

Noun

Earlier this year, Newsom called for local elections clerks to count ballots faster to head off misinformation ahead of the June 2 primary.

— Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
At the same time, local county clerks and election officials in Illinois have stepped up planning for various scenarios involving federal activity at the polls.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of clerks

Noun

Conrad has done an outstanding job of pulling together a team of local workers at all levels of the business.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
During the boom years of the reform era, from 1978 to the early 2000s, China was a country of productive workers.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of workers

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“Functionaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/functionaries. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of functionaries

noun

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