Jump To:

• foreign service
  foreign service

  noun

  a division of the U.S. Department of State or of a foreign office that maintains diplomatic and consular posts and personnel in other countries.
• Foreign Service
  Foreign Service

  The professional arm of the executive branch that supplies diplomats for the United States embassies and consulates around the world. Ambassadors, though officially members of the Foreign Service, are sometimes friends of the president of the United States appointed in gratitude for support given during elections.

foreign service

American  

noun

(often initial capital letters)

1. a division of the U.S. Department of State or of a foreign office that maintains diplomatic and consular posts and personnel in other countries.

---

foreign service British  

noun

1. the diplomatic and usually consular personnel of a foreign affairs ministry or foreign office collectively who represent their country abroad, deal with foreign diplomats at home, etc

---

Foreign Service Cultural  

1. The professional arm of the executive branch that supplies diplomats for the United States embassies and consulates around the world. Ambassadors, though officially members of the Foreign Service, are sometimes friends of the president of the United States appointed in gratitude for support given during elections.

---

Etymology

Origin of foreign service

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foreign service Foreign Service

If negotiations were to resume, it’s unclear whether Trump and his coterie of negotiators have the stamina or the foreign service expertise to bring about an accord.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

At one point in February, Marocco tried ordering the immediate return of foreign service officers stationed abroad.

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025

In a statement, the Venezuelan government did not comment on Machado's prize, saying that the closure was part of a restructuring of its foreign service.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2025

Cynthia Iglesias Guven worked at the Agriculture Department since 1998, living around the world as a foreign service officer and eventually taking a senior job in Washington.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2025

Married at an early age, when the impression of a girl's life are peculiarly vivid, she was but six months in Ireland with the "Cheshire" when that regiment was ordered on foreign service.

From Notable Women Authors of the Day Biographical Sketches by Black, Helen C.

Gracias attended the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service before getting a law degree from the University of Chicago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

And amid a federal hiring freeze, tests for the Foreign Service — men and women who staff U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, often for their entire professional lives — were put on hold.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2025

The goal of those fellowships has been to help students from underrepresented groups get a chance at entering the Foreign Service soon after graduation.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2025

If confirmed, Stefanik would replace UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat who worked for the US Foreign Service for 35 years.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2024

The Foreign Service is split into two parts, the diplomatic corps and the cultural staff.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides