Definition of "functionary" in English

noun

1. 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

2. 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