Search Results
Advanced Search
List Builder
Random Word

official

Official is the real deal. If you want the latest news from Graceland, check the official Elvis Presley website. But you’ll have to look elsewhere to find the unofficial, unapproved, and highly unlikely scoop on Elvis sightings.

If something is official, it's authorized and approved by somebody. If Gatorade is the official drink of the Olympics, somebody with authority has signed some papers and a deal has been made. When you're playing soccer or other sports, the official is the person who makes the calls; he referees (or officiates) the game.

DEFINITIONS OF: official

adj of or relating to an office

“official privileges”

adj having official authority or sanction

“official permission”

“an official representative”

Synonyms: authorised, authorized
endowed with authority; authorised, authoritative, authorized
sanctioned by established authority; ex officio
by virtue of an office or position; formal
characteristic of or befitting a person in authority; formalised, formalized
given formal standing or endorsement; made official or legitimate by the observance of proper procedures; semiofficial
having some official authority or sanction

Antonyms:: unofficial
not having official authority or sanction; unauthorised, unauthorized
not endowed with authority; drumhead, summary
performed speedily and without formality; informal, loose
not officially recognized or controlled; unauthorised, unauthorized, wildcat
without official authorization; unsanctioned
without explicit official permission; show more antonyms...

adj verified officially

“the election returns are now official”

Synonyms: confirmed
having been established or made firm or received the rite of confirmation

adj (of a church) given official status as a national or state institution

Synonyms: constituted, established
brought about or set up or accepted; especially long established

adj conforming to set usage, procedure, or discipline

Synonyms:: prescribed

: regular
in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle

n a worker who holds or is invested with an office

Synonyms:: functionary

Examples:: show 38 examples...; hide 38 examples...; Ralph Johnson Bunche
United States diplomat and United Nations official (1904-1971); Warren Earl Burger
United States jurist appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court by Richard Nixon (1907-1995); Salmon Portland Chase
United States politician and jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1808-1873); John Foster Dulles
United States diplomat who (as Secretary of State) pursued a policy of opposition to the USSR by providing aid to American allies (1888-1959); Oliver Ellsworth
United States jurist and the third chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1745-1807); Melville Weston Fuller
United States jurist and chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1833-1910); John Kenneth Galbraith
United States economist (born in Canada) who served as ambassador to India (born in 1908); Edmund Charles Edouard Genet
French diplomat who in 1793 tried to draw the United States into the war between France and England (1763-1834); Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko
Soviet ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations (1909-1989); Huig de Groot
Dutch jurist and diplomat whose writings established the basis of modern international law (1583-1645); Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjold
Swedish diplomat who greatly extended the influence of the United Nations in peacekeeping matters (1905-1961); William Averell Harriman
United States financier who negotiated a treaty with the Soviet Union banning tests of nuclear weapons (1891-1986); Townsend Harris
United States diplomat who was instrumental in opening Japan to foreign trade (1804-1878); Charles Evans Hughes
United States jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1862-1948); Cordell Hull
United States diplomat who did the groundwork for creating the United Nations (1871-1955); John Jay
United States diplomat and jurist who negotiated peace treaties with Britain and served as the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1745-1829); Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros
prelate who was the confessor of Isabella I and who was later appointed Grand Inquisitor (1436-1517); Henry Alfred Kissinger
United States diplomat who served under President Nixon and President Ford (born in 1923); Le Duc Tho
Vietnamese diplomat who negotiated with Henry Kissinger to end the war in Vietnam (1911-1990); Vicomte Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps
French diplomat who supervised the construction of the Suez Canal (1805-1894); Trygve Halvden Lie
Norwegian diplomat who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations (1896-1968); John Marshall
United States jurist; as chief justice of the Supreme Court he established the principles of United States constitutional law (1755-1835); Sir Harold George Nicolson
English diplomat and author (1886-1968); Thomas Nelson Page
United States diplomat and writer about the Old South (1853-1922); William Hubbs Rehnquist
United States jurist who served as an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court from 1972 until 1986, when he was appointed chief justice (born in 1924); Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
wife of Franklin Roosevelt and a strong advocate of human rights (1884-1962); John Rutledge
United States jurist and second chief justice of the United States Supreme Court; he was appointed by George Washington and briefly served as chief justice but was ultimately rejected by the United States Senate (1739-1800); Samson
(Old Testament) a judge of Israel who performed herculean feats of strength against the Philistines until he was betrayed to them by his mistress Delilah; Adlai Ewing Stevenson
United States politician and diplomat (1900-1968); Harlan Fisk Stone
United States jurist who was named chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1941 by Franklin D. Roosevelt (1872-1946); William Howard Taft
27th President of the United States and later chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1857-1930); Roger Brooke Taney
United States jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court; remembered for his ruling that slaves and their descendants have no rights as citizens (1777-1864); Tomas de Torquemada
the Spaniard who as Grand Inquisitor was responsible for the death of thousands of Jews and suspected witches during the Spanish Inquisition (1420-1498); Frederick Moore Vinson
United States jurist who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court (1890-1953); Morrison Remick Waite
United States jurist who was appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1874 by President Grant (1816-1888); Kurt Waldheim
Austrian diplomat who was Secretary General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981; in 1986 he was elected president of Austria in spite of worldwide allegations that he had direct knowledge of Nazi atrocities during World War II (born in 1918); Earl Warren
United States jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1891-1974); Edward Douglas White Jr.
United States jurist appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1910 by President Taft; noted for his work on antitrust legislation (1845-1921)

Types:: show 103 types...; hide 103 types...; 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; judge, jurist, justice
a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice; licenser
an official who can issue a license or give authoritative permission (especially one who licenses publications); mace, macebearer, macer
an official who carries a mace of office; mandarin
any high government official or bureaucrat; notary, notary public
someone legally empowered to witness signatures and certify a document's validity and to take depositions; noticer
someone who gives formal notice; officeholder, officer
someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust; agent, federal agent
any agent or representative of a federal agency or bureau; provincial
(Roman Catholic Church) an official in charge of an ecclesiastical province acting under the superior general of a religious order; postmaster general
the official in charge of the national postal service; proconsul
an official in a modern colony who has considerable administrative power; prosecuting attorney, prosecuting officer, prosecutor, public prosecutor
a government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state; 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; alcalde
a mayor or chief magistrate of a Spanish town; ambassador, embassador
a diplomat of the highest rank; accredited as representative from one country to another; bean counter
an accountant or bureaucrat who is believed to place undue emphasis on the control of expenditures; canvasser
a person who takes or counts votes; charge d'affaires
the official temporarily in charge of a diplomatic mission in the absence of the ambassador; chief justice
the judge who presides over a supreme court; churchwarden
an officer in the Episcopal church who helps a parish priest with secular matters; consul
a diplomat appointed by a government to protect its commercial interests and help its citizens in a foreign country; coyote
a forest fire fighter who is sent to battle remote and severe forest fires (often for days at a time); Daniel
a wise and upright judge; Protestant deacon, deacon
a Protestant layman who assists the minister; DA, district attorney
an official prosecutor for a judicial district; doge
formerly the chief magistrate in the republics of Venice and Genoa; elder
any of various church officers; envoy, envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary
a diplomat having less authority than an ambassador; Grand Inquisitor
director of the court of Inquisition (especially in Spain and Portugal); high commissioner
a senior diplomat from one country to another who is assigned ambassadorial rank; Indian agent
a representative of the federal government to American Indian tribes (especially on Indian reservations); internuncio
(Roman Catholic Church) a diplomatic representative of the Pope ranking below a nuncio; justiciar, justiciary
formerly a high judicial officer; lame duck
an elected official still in office but not slated to continue; lieutenant governor
an elected official serving as deputy to the governor of a state of the United States; magistrate
a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law (especially one who conducts a court dealing with minor offenses); diplomatic minister, minister
a diplomat representing one government to another; ranks below ambassador; nuncio, papal nuncio
(Roman Catholic Church) a diplomatic representative of the Pope having ambassadorial status; office-bearer
the person who holds an office; Fed, Federal, federal official
any federal law-enforcement officer; ordinary
a judge of a probate court; paper-pusher
a clerk or bureaucrat who does paperwork; persona grata
a diplomat who is acceptable to the government to which he is sent; persona non grata
a diplomat who is unacceptable to the government to which he is sent; placeman, placeseeker
a disparaging term for an appointee; plenipotentiary
a diplomat who is fully authorized to represent his or her government; praetor, pretor
an annually elected magistrate of the ancient Roman Republic; probation officer
the officer of the court who supervises probationers; procurator
(ancient Rome) someone employed by the Roman Emperor to manage finance and taxes; qadi
an Islamic judge; rapporteur
a recorder appointed by a committee to prepare reports of the meetings; recorder
a barrister or solicitor who serves as part-time judge in towns or boroughs; recruiting-sergeant
a sergeant deputized to enlist recruits; selectman
an elected member of a board of officials who run New England towns; selectwoman
an elected member of a board of officials who run New England towns; sergeant at arms, serjeant-at-arms
an officer (as of a legislature or court) who maintains order and executes commands; sacristan, sexton
an officer of the church who is in charge of sacred objects; state attorney, state's attorney
a prosecuting attorney for a state; assessor, tax assessor
an official who evaluates property for the purpose of taxing it; collector of internal revenue, exciseman, internal revenue agent, tax collector, taxman
someone who collects taxes for the government; taxer
a bureaucrat who levies taxes; trial judge
a judge in a trial court; trier
one (as a judge) who examines and settles a case; trustbuster
a federal agent who engages in trust busting; verger
a church officer who takes care of the interior of the building and acts as an attendant (carries the verge) during ceremonies; vestryman
a man who is a member of a church vestry; vestrywoman
a woman who is a member of a church vestry; George F. Kennan, George Frost Kennan, Kennan
United States diplomat who recommended a policy of containment in dealing with Soviet aggression (1904-2005)

Type of:: skilled worker, skilled workman, trained worker
a worker who has acquired special skills

n someone who administers the rules of a game or sport

“the golfer asked for an official who could give him a ruling”

Types:: show 12 types...; hide 12 types...; 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; back judge
a football official; field judge
a football official; head linesman
a football official in charge of recording yardage gained or lost; line judge
football official who assists the referee by keeping track of the official time during the game; side judge
a football official

Type of:: adjudicator
a person who studies and settles conflicts and disputes

Learn Launch

WORD FAMILY

USAGE EXAMPLES