functionary:
(plural – functionaries)
an officer who performs a particular function in a government office, trust, etc.;
an official,
e.g.
In simple terms, a functionary is civil servant, bureaucrat, official that is given a special or functions to perform, usually having the privilege of access to technical and financial sources.
In some prisons there are functionaries, senior and well-behaved prisoners, who supervise labour activities of the other prisoners and report the progress or other work or discipline related matters to the jailers/prison officer.
When a deal successful and profitable the top dogs enjoy the fame, but when a deal is cancelled, the underdogs, the medium level functionaries, are made scapegoats/fall guys.
For a news item that shows us how we come across this word in our daily news, please click here, for an item of news about a corrupt Bulgarian functionary, please click here, for an item of news that shows us how this word is used in higher educational institutions, please click here and for an article that reports about the functionaries in Obama administration, please click here.
