Word.ws English Dictionary

officer

Syllables: of·fi·cer/ˈɒf.ə.sə//ˈɒf.ɪ.sə/

officer noun: one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.

officer: one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police...
Image: James Tourtellotte, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

officer (plural officers)

  1. One who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
    • Huerta was arrested while law enforcement officers were executing a federal search warrant at a Los Angeles business suspected of hiring illegal immigrants and falsifying employment papers, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement...2025 June 9, Mónica De Anda, “SEIU President David Huerta released from custody on $50k bond following arrest during ICE raid”, in KABC-TV
  2. A respectful term of address for an officer, especially a police officer.
    • Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
  3. One who holds a public office.
  4. An agent or servant imparted with the ability, to some degree, to act on initiative.
    • Early in the Talmudic period the service was divided between two officers. One was invited to recite the Shema including the benedictions connected with it... After he was through, another man was invited to stand up before the pulpit facing the direction of Jerusalem to recite the prayer proper...1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 108
  5. (colloquial) A commissioned officer.

Verb

officer (third-person singular simple present officers, present participle officering, simple past and past participle officered)

  1. (transitive) To supply with officers.
  2. (transitive) To command as or like an officer.
    • Many of our journals are officered by Irish gentlemen, and their gallant brigade does the penning among us, as their ancestors used to transact the fighting in Europe; and engage under many a flag, to be good friends when the battle is over.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 31, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...
    • The regular battalions of the regiment, though officered mainly by Anglo-Welshmen of county families, did not normally contain more than about one Welshman in fifty in the ranks.1929, Robert Graves, chapter 10, in Good-Bye to All That, London: Jonathan Cape, page 115

Proper noun capitalized: Officer

Officer

  1. A surname.
  2. A suburb of Melbourne in the Shire of Cardinia, Victoria, Australia

officer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

officer in Hindi

one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization
अधिकारी adhikārī, अफ़सर afsar, अफसर aphsar, सरकार sarkār
one who holds a public office
अधिकारी adhikārī
contraction of the term "commissioned officer"
अधिकारी adhikārī, ऑफ़िसर ŏfisar, अफ़सर afsar, अफसर aphsar

officer in Tamil

அலுவலர், அதிகாரி

officer in Marathi

one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization
ऑफिसर ŏphisar, अधिकारी adhikārī

officer in Urdu

one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization
اَفْسَر afsar, مَامُور māmūr
contraction of the term "commissioned officer"
اَفْسَر afsar
More languagesFewer languages
officer in Bengali
কর্মকর্তা, আধিকারিক, পদাধিকারী, কর্মকত্র্রী
officer in Telugu
ఉద్యోగి udyōgi
officer in Malayalam
ആപ്പീസർ āppīsaṟ, ഓഫിസർ ōphisaṟ, അധികാരി adhikāri
officer in Kannada
ಅಳವಿಗ, ಕಾಪುಗ, ಅಧಿಕಾರಿ, ಹುದ್ದೇದಾರ
officer in Punjabi
ਅਫ਼ਸਰ afsar
officer in Gujarati
ઑફિસર ŏphisar
officer in Odia
ଅଧିକାରୀଙ୍କୁ
officer in Nepali
पदाधिकारी, अधिकारीलाई
officer in Arabic
مَأْمُور maʔmūr, مَسْؤُول masʔūl, ضَابِط ḍābiṭ
officer in Malay
pegawai, perwira
officer in Indonesian
perwira
officer in Thai
เจ้าหน้าที่ jâao-nâa-tîi, นายทหาร
officer in Vietnamese
sĩ quan, chỉ huy
officer in Myanmar
စစ်ဗိုလ် cacbuil

Examples of officer in a sentence

  • Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
  • Early in the Talmudic period the service was divided between two officers.1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 108:
  • [A]t least a quarter of those who fought and died in the Great War were prosperous with spacious homes, and to this class belonged nearly all who had ordered and officered the carnage.1992, Alasdair Gray, Poor Things, Bloomsbury, published 2002, page 306:

All 40 example sentences with officer

Synonyms of officer

Forms of officer

Noun
pluralofficers
alternative pronunciation-spellingofficah
alternative pronunciation-spellingofficuh
Verb
third-person singular presentofficers
present participleofficering
past participleofficered
pastofficered

Plural of officer: officers

Origin of officer

From Middle English officer, from Anglo-Norman officer, officier, from Old French officer, Late Latin officiarius (“official”), from Latin officium (“office”) + -ārius (“-er”). By surface analysis, office + -er.

Officer (plural Officers) # (countable) A term of address or title for a police officer or sometimes a security guard or other authority figure. #: Officer Smith, please help me!

Words formed from officer

Phrases with officer

37 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about officer

What does officer mean?
Officer means one who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization, especially in military, police or government organizations.
What is officer in Hindi?
Officer in Hindi is अधिकारी (adhikārī), अफ़सर (afsar), अफसर (aphsar). See Officer meaning in Hindi.
How do you use officer in a sentence?
Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
What part of speech is officer?
Officer can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce officer?
Officer is pronounced /ˈɒf.ɪ.sə/ (UK).
What is the plural of officer?
The plural of officer is officers.

Words near officer in the dictionary

  1. officeholding
  2. officeless
  3. officelike
  4. officemate
  5. officemates
  6. officer
  7. officer cadet
  8. officer cadets
  9. officer down
  10. Officer Friendly
  11. officer of the court

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: officer (page history and authors); Officer (page history and authors); officer (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); officer (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ఉద్యోగి (Telugu) (page history and authors); അധികാരി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); officer (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਅਫ਼ਸਰ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ઑફિસર (Gujarati) (page history and authors); officer (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); officer (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “officer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/officer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.