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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in bureaucrats

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Initially, county officials declined to open the list, citing the security threat of inserting a thumb drive of unknown origin into a government computer.

— Miles Parks, NPR, 21 Oct. 2026
In other developments, Russia unleashed another missile and drone blitz on civilian areas in Ukraine, killing at least nine people, officials said, as Zelenskyy sought more American and European help.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of officials

Noun

Vying for dominance as well are the haughty, self-serving bureaucrats of the area’s bustling capital of South Wood (Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson), who pull their political strings from the relative safety of the grand Pittock Mansion.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Half of them want to hand health care over to government bureaucrats, the other half to corporate bureaucrats.

— WCCO Staff, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of bureaucrats

Noun

Rescue operations were complicated, with police firing tear gas at people who had begun looting neighboring shops, as officers sought to clear the area and provide access to emergency response teams.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
The other person, who police believe to be a man, fled the scene before officers arrived, Gonzalez said.

— Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of officers

Noun

The State Department on Wednesday ordered nonemergency government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia amid escalating attacks by the Houthis on Saudi infrastructure.

— Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
Flock employees urged the company to adopt stronger security after a 2024 breach.

— Douglas MacMillan, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of employees

Noun

So were several lawyers and the election clerks of two of Utah’s twenty-nine counties.

— Barton Gellman, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said that the clerks who didn't comply with the government's demands could face prosecution as well.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of clerks

Noun

But the movement has widened to include workers demanding relief from rising living costs, making the government’s task broader than resolving a dispute over university admissions.

— Thomas Adamson, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Also according to the emergency service, consecutive Russian strikes on a shopping center in Kharkiv injured four people late on Saturday, including three rescue workers.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026