☼ Concept Map

''functionary'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

↩ 🔳 🔳 🔳

Primary

⁀➴

''functionary'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260220114507-00-⌔

functionary - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

functionary (plural functionaries)

  • A person employed as an official in a bureaucracy (usually corporate or governmental) who holds limited authority and primarily serves to carry out a simple function for which discretion is minimal or not required.
    • ✤ Near-synonyms: bureaucrat; official; officer; administrator; apparatchik
    • ✤ Consciences are for politicians, Bernard! We are humble functionaries whose duty it is to implement the commands of our democratically elected representatives.1
  • Such a person who is petty, pedantic, short-sighted, uncaring, or counterproductive; sometimes also with implication of being amoral or corrupt.
    • ✤ Near-synonyms: bureaucrat, apparatchik; paper-pusher; bean counter

Etymology

From French fonctionnaire; by surface analysis, function +‎ -ary.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈfʌŋ(k).ʃn̩.(ə)ri/
  • Audio (UK): 🔊
  • (General American) IPA: /ˈfʌŋ(k).ʃəˌnɛ.ri/
  • Hyphenation: func‧tion‧ary, func‧tio‧na‧ry

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 1987 December 10, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “Official Secrets (Yes, Prime Minister)”, in Yes, Prime Minister, season 2, episode 2, spoken by Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne): ↩

Link to original

Secondary

• • •