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.

Noun
officer (plural officers)
- 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
- 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
- One who holds a public office.
- 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
- A commissioned officer.
Verb
officer (third-person singular simple present officers, present participle officering, simple past and past participle officered)
- To supply with officers.
- 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
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:
Synonyms of officer
Forms of officer
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | officers |
| alternative pronunciation-spelling | officah |
| alternative pronunciation-spelling | officuh |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | officers |
| present participle | officering |
| past participle | officered |
| past | officered |
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
- accountable disbursing officer
- accountable officer
- air officer
- animal control officer
- brother-officer
- bylaw officer
- careers officer
- case officer
- chief executive officer
- chief experience officer
- chief financial officer
- chief information officer
- chief legal officer
- chief medical officer
- chief operating officer
- chief people officer
- chief petty officer
- chief petty officer first class
- chief petty officer second class
- chief technical officer
- chief technological officer
- chief technology officer
- chief warrant officer
- civil enforcement officer
- commanding officer
- commissioned officer
- community police officer
- correctional officer
- correction officer
- corrections officer
- customs officer
- detention officer
- district officer
- dog officer
- duty officer
- executive officer
- express officer
- field officer
- field training officer
- fire officer
- first officer
- flag officer
- flying officer
- general officer
- grounds officer
- guest relation officer
- honorary officer
- house officer
- intelligence officer
- judicial officer
- liaison officer
- line officer
- loan officer
- master chief petty officer
- master chief warrant officer
- master warrant officer
- multi-officered
- multiofficered
- naval officer
- non-commissioned officer
Phrases with officer
- officer down
- officer cadet
- Officer South
- peace officer
- penal officer
- petty officer
- pilot officer
- press officer
- radio officer
- staff officer
- third officer
- officer cadets
37 more phrasesFewer phrases
- parole officer
- patrol officer
- police officer
- prison officer
- public officer
- riding officer
- second officer
- truant officer
- outdoor officer
- sheriff officer
- traffic officer
- warrant officer
- Officer Friendly
- resource officer
- security officer
- probation officer
- relieving officer
- returning officer
- wandering officer
- warrant officer 2
- sabbatical officer
- riot police officer
- officer of the court
- officer of the peace
- range safety officer
- state police officer
- senior warrant officer
- noncommissioned officer
- school resource officer
- warrant officer class 1
- warrant officer class 2
- petty officer first class
- petty officer third class
- petty officer second class
- public information officer
- senior chief petty officer
- senior chief warrant officer
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
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.
