Officially designates (7)

I believe the answer is:

anoints

'officially designates' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

This is all the clue.

(Another definition for anoints that I've seen is " Puts oil on in religious ceremony".)

I've seen this clue in the Newsday.com and the Newsday.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.