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OFFICIAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Someone who administers the rules of a game or sport
Example:
the golfer asked for an official who could give him a ruling
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("official" is a kind of...):
adjudicator (a person who studies and settles conflicts and disputes)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "official"):
football official (an official who enforces the rules at a football game)
linesman (official (in tennis, soccer, football, etc.) who assists the referee in some way (especially by watching for out of bounds or offside))
ref; referee ((sports) the chief official (as in boxing or American football) who is expected to ensure fair play)
scorekeeper; scorer (an official who records the score during the progress of a game)
dispatcher; starter (the official who signals the beginning of a race or competition)
timekeeper; timer ((sports) an official who keeps track of the time elapsed)
ump; umpire (an official at a baseball game)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A worker who holds or is invested with an office
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("official" is a kind of...):
skilled worker; skilled workman; trained worker (a worker who has acquired special skills)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "official"):
prosecuting attorney; prosecuting officer; prosecutor; public prosecutor (a government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state)
proconsul (an official in a modern colony who has considerable administrative power)
postmaster general (the official in charge of the national postal service)
provincial ((Roman Catholic Church) an official in charge of an ecclesiastical province acting under the superior general of a religious order)
agent; federal agent (any agent or representative of a federal agency or bureau)
officeholder; officer (someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust)
noticer (someone who gives formal notice)
notary; notary public (someone legally empowered to witness signatures and certify a document's validity and to take depositions)
mandarin (any high government official or bureaucrat)
mace; macebearer; macer (an official who carries a mace of office)
licenser (an official who can issue a license or give authoritative permission (especially one who licenses publications))
judge; jurist; justice (a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice)
quaestor (any of several public officials of ancient Rome (usually in charge of finance and administration))
recruiter (an official who enlists personnel for military service)
record-keeper; recorder; registrar (someone responsible for keeping records)
regulator (an official responsible for control and supervision of a particular activity or area of public interest)
returning officer (the official in each electorate who holds the election and returns the results)
sealer (an official who affixes a seal to a document)
searcher (a customs official whose job is to search baggage or goods or vehicles for contraband or dutiable items)
teller; vote counter (an official appointed to count the votes (especially in legislative assembly))
town clerk (the official who keeps a town's records)
doorkeeper; usher (an official stationed at the entrance of a courtroom or legislative chamber)
vizier (a high official in a Muslim government (especially in the Ottoman Empire))
weigher (an official who weighs and records the weight)
apparatchik (a humorous but derogatory term for an official of a large organization (especially a political organization))
appointee (an official who is appointed)
bailiff (an officer of the court who is employed to execute writs and processes and make arrests etc.)
beadle (a minor parish official who serves a ceremonial function)
administrative official; bureaucrat (an official of a bureaucracy)
caretaker (an official who performs the duties of an office temporarily)
censor (a person who is authorized to read publications or correspondence or to watch theatrical performances and suppress in whole or in part anything considered obscene or politically unacceptable)
census taker; enumerator (someone who collects census data by visiting individual homes)
church officer (a church official)
city father (an important municipal official)
civil servant (a public official who is a member of the civil service)
commissar; political commissar (an official of the Communist Party who was assigned to teach party principles to a military unit)
Comptroller General (a United States federal official who supervises expenditures and settles claims against the government)
Comptroller of the Currency (a United States federal official who regulates the national banks)
diplomat; diplomatist (an official engaged in international negotiations)
elected official (official who won the office in a free election)
equerry (an official charged with the care of the horses of princes or nobles)
fire marshall (an official who is responsible for the prevention and investigation of fires)
fire warden; forest fire fighter; ranger (an official who is responsible for managing and protecting an area of forest)
hearing examiner; hearing officer (an official appointed by a government agency to conduct an investigation or administrative hearing so that the agency can exercise its statutory powers)
hangover; holdover (an official who remains in office after his term)
incumbent; officeholder (the official who holds an office)
Inquisitor (an official of the ecclesiastical court of the Inquisition)
invalidator; nullifier; voider (an official who can invalidate or nullify)
Derivation:
officialdom (people elected or appointed to administer a government)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having official authority or sanction
Example:
an official representative
Classified under:
Similar:
semiofficial (having some official authority or sanction)
formalised; formalized (given formal standing or endorsement; made official or legitimate by the observance of proper procedures)
formal (characteristic of or befitting a person in authority)
ex officio (by virtue of an office or position)
authorised; authoritative; authorized (sanctioned by established authority)
Also:
authorised; authorized (endowed with authority)
Antonym:
unofficial (not having official authority or sanction)
Derivation:
office ((of a government or government official) holding an office means being in power)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Verified officially
Example:
the election returns are now official
Classified under:
Similar:
confirmed (having been established or made firm or received the rite of confirmation)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(of a church) given official status as a national or state institution
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
constituted; established (brought about or set up or accepted; especially long established)
Domain category:
church; church service (a service conducted in a house of worship)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Conforming to set usage, procedure, or discipline
Example:
in prescribed order
Synonyms:
official; prescribed
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
regular (in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle)
Derivation:
office (a religious rite or service prescribed by ecclesiastical authorities)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Of or relating to an office
Example:
official privileges
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
office (an administrative unit of government)
Derivation:
office (an administrative unit of government)
Context examples:
Katrin Pfuhlmann, lead author of the study, described the effect in a statement posted on the center's official website.
(German scientists find potential treatment for obesity, Agência Brasil)
Official nonbrand names by which medicines are known.
(Generic, NCI Dictionary)
I ought to have waited for official information.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
From an official point of view it’s simply awful.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“No, Mr. Traddles,” replied Uriah, resuming his official seat, and squeezing his bony hands, laid palm to palm between his bony knees.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
We have arranged with certain officials that the instant the Czarina Catherine is seen, we are to be informed by a special messenger.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family misfortune like this noised abroad.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Nor am I accustomed, sir, to be interfered with in my official duties.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He's all hunky with the officials.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
I can't imagine how that official came into the matter; but in he trotted, and set us both laughing.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
