Foggy Bottom

American  

noun

1. a low-lying area bordering the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

2. Informal. the U.S. Department of State, whose office building is located in this area.

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Foggy Bottom Cultural  

1. A nickname for the United States Department of State, whose offices were built in a formerly swampy area of Washington, D.C., known as Foggy Bottom because of vapors rising from the swamp.

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Example Sentences

He spends little of his time at the State Department’s headquarters in Foggy Bottom, instead working out of the White House within arm’s reach of the president.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

Students, faculty, staff and alumni narrowed that down further to four finalists — “Ambassadors,” “Sentinels,” “Revolutionaries” and “Blue Fog,” after the Foggy Bottom neighborhood — in March.

From New York Times • May 24, 2023

Patricia Roberts, a 67-year-old retired banker, said that the permanent closure of businesses during the pandemic has made her neighborhood in Foggy Bottom feel less safe.

From Washington Post • Mar. 9, 2023

Now she lives in a rented apartment in Foggy Bottom, where she had imagined hosting salons, debating big ideas and influencing policy discussions.

From New York Times • Mar. 4, 2023

She’d had no reason to know about the charity in Foggy Bottom that feeds hungry people and helps them find homes.

From Washington Post • Nov. 14, 2022