official 1 of 2

noun

ə-ˈfi-shəl How to pronounce official (audio)
Definition of officialnext
as in officer
a person who holds a public office some of our best public officials do their jobs quietly and are never in the news

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

official

2 of 2

adjective

as in authorized
ordered or allowed by those in authority the official languages for those Olympic Games were French and English

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 official
Noun
Although officials have not released details about the cause of death, scientists agree that if it was caused by ordinary plague, the wider world has little to worry about. — Faye Flam, Scientific American, 27 Oct. 2026 The August meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enraged many senior Russian officials. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 27 Oct. 2026
Adjective
Turnstile aimed to raise $150,000 for Human Concern International; as of this writing, the show’s official LaunchGood page has raised over $221,000. — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 25 Oct. 2026 The state election commission is not expected to release the official tally before Monday. — ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for official
Recent Examples of Synonyms for official
  1. officer
  2. authorized
Noun
  • According to the district’s chief business officer Gerardo Castillo, Sac City Unified’s initial report included only its 2025-26 expenditures and left out spending from 2024-25.
    — Chaewon Chung, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Mike Krieger, Anthropic’s chief product officer and an advisor at Collective[i], summed it up in a single line.
    — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of officer
Adjective
  • The result is Citizen Kim, an authorized biography that took five years to report and write.
    — Maer Roshan, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Hammer Construction Corporation — the parent company of Lago’s employer, Hammer Commercial Construction — is an authorized contractor for UM and did work for the university as recently as several months ago, permit information shows.
    — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of authorized

Browse Nearby Words

offices
official
officials
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Official.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/official. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on official

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about official

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All