How to Use officiate in a Sentence

officiate

verb
  • Two referees officiated the hockey game.
  • The bishop officiated the memorial Mass.
  • This is a very hard play to officiate.
    — Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2025
  • That’s not an easy game to officiate.
    — Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Most people who officiate youth and high school sports do it for the love of the game.
    — The Arizona Republic, 26 Aug. 2022
  • Many have full-time jobs and make time to officiate games in the evening and on weekends.
    — New York Times, 21 Apr. 2022
  • The officiating crew took time to get the mess sorted out.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 22 Dec. 2025
  • Turns 21 in a month, at which time this officiating crew might owe him a drink.
    — Dylan Bumbarger, oregonlive, 12 Mar. 2023
  • Or the way the game was officiated?
    — Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 31 Dec. 2025
  • All three are still officiating in the league, Blauch said.
    — Annie Costabile, New York Times, 19 May 2026
  • The game turned on one of the most bizarre officiating sequences of the season.
    — Cj Moore, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2026
  • That’s how that was, the response from the officiating crew.
    — Devon Henderson, New York Times, 4 May 2026
  • Phillips spent five years officiating at the high school level in his home state of Texas.
    — Tim Brown, OregonLive.com, 19 Apr. 2018
  • The priest has been flown in to officiate the ceremony and is being lodged with the friends of the bride.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 24 Mar. 2026
  • Williamson is not the first player that is difficult to officiate.
    — Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 7 May 2021
  • Ahead, see some of the celebrities who have officiated their friends' weddings.
    — Grace Gavilanes, PEOPLE, 4 July 2026
  • That was the response from the officiating crew.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 4 May 2026
  • Soccer is one of the most difficult sports to officiate.
    — Eric Zillmer, Scientific American, 26 June 2026
  • That, and the fact that referees refuse to officiate the Tush Push at all.
    — Josh Kendall, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025
  • This fall, six women will officiate soccer’s World Cup for the first time.
    — Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2022
  • The country singer and Voice coach is no stranger to officiating weddings.
    — Grace Gavilanes, PEOPLE, 4 July 2026
  • It was said the play would be officiated more closely moving forward.
    — Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Discuss this with the person who will officiate at the memorial service when the time comes.
    — Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 9 Aug. 2022
  • For those who want a ban, officiating mistakes are the biggest factor.
    — The Athletic Nfl Staff, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2026
  • The tush push was also criticized for how it is officiated.
    — Jayna Bardahl, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Lakers were furious about the way that jump ball was officiated.
    — Devon Henderson, New York Times, 9 May 2026
  • Ian Murray, who officiates high school games in the winter, came in to referee the first week.
    — Mike Jensen, chicagotribune.com, 25 Aug. 2019
  • At the end, Styles is about to officiate a wedding until a storm propels him, bed and all, into the clouds.
    — Marisa Whitaker, SPIN, 13 July 2022
  • Steve Javie is the rules and officiating expert.
    — Esfandiar Baraheni, New York Times, 3 June 2026
  • Jaylen Brown has griped often this season about how he and his Celtics are officiated.
    — Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'officiate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: