Official

//əˈfɪʃ(ə)l// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An office holder, a person holding an official position in government, sports, or other organization.

    "Officials in the Firefly administration assure the Sylvanians they don't want war either."

  2. 2
    someone who administers the rules of a game or sport wordnet
  3. 3
    a worker who holds or is invested with an office wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or about an office or public trust.

    "official duties"

  2. 2
    Derived from the proper office or officer, or the appropriate authority; made or communicated by authority

    "an official statement or report"

  3. 3
    Approved by authority; authorized.

    "The Official Strategy Guide"

  4. 4
    Approved by authority; authorized.; Dubious but recognized by authorities as the truth or canon.

    "Despite these testimonies, "accidental asphyxiation" remains his official cause of death."

  5. 5
    Sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal.

    "an official drug or preparation"

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    Discharging an office or function.

    "the stomach and other parts official unto nutrition"

  2. 7
    Relating to an office, especially a subordinate executive officer or attendant.
  3. 8
    Relating to an ecclesiastical judge appointed by a bishop, chapter, archdeacon, etc., with charge of the spiritual jurisdiction.
  4. 9
    True, real, beyond doubt. informal

    "Well, it's official: you lost your mind!"

  5. 10
    Listed in a national pharmacopeia.
Adjective
  1. 1
    having official authority or sanction wordnet
  2. 2
    verified officially wordnet
  3. 3
    (of a church) given official status as a national or state institution wordnet
  4. 4
    conforming to set usage, procedure, or discipline wordnet
  5. 5
    of or relating to an office wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
authoritativeauthorizedex officioformalprescribedabove ground

Example

More examples

"His official title at the company is Assistant to the President."

Etymology

From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office + -ial.

Related phrases

Facebook officialOfficial IRAco-officialex-officialfourth officialnon-officialofficial at-batofficial coverofficial gazetteofficial languageofficial markofficial passport

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.