Meaning & use
commissioner
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A senior official chosen to lead a government department, agency, or organization.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a commissioner' for one, 'commissioners' for several.
Patterns
- the commissioner of a department
- a police commissioner
- a commissioner for something
The commissioner of the police department announced new safety measures.
She was appointed commissioner of the environmental agency.
The commissioner answered questions from reporters.
nouncountablesport
The top appointed official in charge of a professional sports league.
Grammar: Countable and often used with a league name: 'the league commissioner'.
Patterns
- the commissioner of a league
- a league commissioner
The commissioner of the National Football League suspended the player.
League commissioners often meet to discuss rule changes.
The commissioner presented the championship trophy.
nouncountable
A member of a commission, a group given official authority to investigate or manage something.
Grammar: Countable; often used in phrases like 'a commissioner on the commission'.
Patterns
- a commissioner on a commission
- appoint someone as commissioner
He served as a commissioner on the human rights commission.
The commissioners voted to approve the new policy.
Each commissioner represents a different region.
Word forms
| plural | commissioners |
|---|
Common combinations
- police commissioner
- The police commissioner spoke at the press conference.
- league commissioner
- The league commissioner fined the team for breaking rules.
- appoint a commissioner
- The mayor appointed a new commissioner to lead the department.
- commissioner of a department
- She is the commissioner of the department of health.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chief
- Chief is a more general word for a leader and does not always imply official appointment.
- director
- A director often manages a company or project, while a commissioner usually oversees a public or sports organization.
- supervisor
- A supervisor oversees workers, but a commissioner has broader official authority.
Word family
- commission noun
- A group given official authority, or a payment for work.
- commission verb
- To formally choose someone for a position or order a work of art.
Commonly confused: commissioner or commission? commissioner or commisioner?
commissioner vs commission
A commission is the group or the payment; a commissioner is the person.
commissioner vs commisioner
This is a common misspelling; the correct spelling has double 's' and double 'm': commissioner.
Practice
Choose the correct word: 'The police ______ announced a new crime prevention program.'
Choose one answer.
Commissioner is the person who leads the police department. Commission is the group or a payment, and commissioned/commissioning are verb forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “commissioner”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.