commissioner

commissioner — noun

1. a person who holds a position of authority to manage or oversee a specific gover

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who holds a position of authority to manage or oversee a specific government department, public agency, or area of responsibility — for example, a police force, a trade office, or a housing authority.

Example

The city's health commissioner ordered all public schools to close during the flu outbreak.

collocation: health commissioner

Aiko was appointed as housing commissioner for the region last spring.

passive: appointed as + commissioner

Common collocations
  • police commissioner
  • health commissioner
  • trade commissioner
  • housing commissioner
  • election commissioner
  • appointed commissioner
  • served as commissioner
  • acting commissioner
Synonyms
  • official

    broader term; any person with a public role, not necessarily a department head

  • director

    focuses on leading an organization rather than representing governmental authority

  • administrator

    emphasizes day-to-day management tasks rather than high-level policy authority

  • chief

    less formal; used in titles like police chief, but may not carry the same official rank

Usage Note

Commonly combined with a specific department or area before the title, e.g., police commissioner, health commissioner, trade commissioner.

Common Mistakes

The commisioner approved the new budget.
The commissioner approved the new budget.
the word is spelled with double 's' and double 'm': commissioner.

2. in US professional sports, the person who holds the top administrative position

2.nounB2
Definition

in US professional sports, the person who holds the top administrative position for a league — responsible for making rules, disciplining players or teams, and guiding the sport's overall direction.

Example

The baseball commissioner suspended the pitcher for breaking the league's rules.

collocation: baseball commissioner

Commissioner Nadia promised to make the women's soccer league more competitive.

Common collocations
  • baseball commissioner
  • basketball commissioner
  • football commissioner
  • sports commissioner
  • league commissioner
  • acting commissioner
  • commissioner suspended
  • commissioner fined
Synonyms
  • league president

    used in some non-US leagues; similar role but different title

  • chief executive

    focuses on business operations rather than rule-making and discipline

  • governor

    used for team representatives on league boards, not the top league head

Usage Note

This sense is specific to US sports leagues (e.g., MLB, NBA, NFL). In other countries, league heads are called league president, chief executive, or chairperson rather than commissioner.

Common Mistakes

The commissioner of the English Premier League announced new rules.
The chief executive of the English Premier League announced new rules.
commissioner is the standard title only in US professional sports leagues; other countries use different titles.

Word family

  • commission
    nounB2
  • committee
    nounB2
  • commit
    verbB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Commissioner, official, director, administrator, and chief all describe people in positions of authority, but they differ in scope and setting. Official is the broadest term — any person holding a public role, from a traffic officer to a cabinet minister. Director emphasizes leading an organization or department (e.g., school director, finance director), whereas commissioner adds a layer of governmental or regulatory authority. Administrator focuses on managing systems and processes (e.g., hospital administrator), often behind the scenes rather than setting policy. Chief is less formal and can overlap with commissioner (police chief vs. police commissioner), but chief frequently appears in non-government roles as well (chief engineer, chief of staff). For example, a health commissioner has the power to issue public orders, while a hospital administrator carries out those orders; a school director runs a single institution, whereas a commissioner oversees a system or region.

officialdirectoradministratorchief

Common collocations

Nouns

  • police commissioner
  • trade commissioner
  • health commissioner
  • baseball commissioner
  • league commissioner
  • sports commissioner
  • housing commissioner

Phrases

  • appointed as commissioner
  • served as commissioner
  • acting commissioner
  • deputy commissioner

Prepositions

  • commissioner for
  • commissioner of
  • commissioner to

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Commissioner comes from the word commission (meaning 'an order or authority to do something') with the suffix -er added to mean 'person who does that.' The root is Latin commissio, from committere (com- 'together' + mittere 'to send'), which originally meant 'to send together' or 'to entrust.' The word passed through Old French commission and entered English in the 14th century. By the 1400s, commissioner was being used for someone given official authority by a commission.