attaché
Americannoun
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attachés
plural
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a diplomatic official attached to an embassy or legation, especially in a technical capacity.
a commercial attaché;
a cultural attaché.
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a military officer who is assigned to a diplomatic post in a foreign country in order to gather military information.
an air attaché;
an army attaché;
a naval attaché.
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Also attache attaché case.
noun
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a specialist attached to a diplomatic mission
military attaché
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a junior member of the staff of an embassy or legation
Discover More
Some nations disguise spies as attachés.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of attaché
1825–35; < French: literally, attached, past participle of attacher to attach
Explanation
An attaché is a thin briefcase used for carrying papers. It is sometimes called an attaché case. You may notice that in spy movies, an attaché is often swapped out by the bad guy, and then the good guy spends the rest of the movie trying to get it back. Attaché comes from the French attacher, which literally means "attached," and it was first applied to someone working for a diplomat, such as a junior officer. Now an attaché is a technical expert assigned to the staff of a diplomatic mission. If you are an expert on the customs of a certain country, you may be asked to be a cultural attaché and advice the ambassador for that country.
Vocabulary lists containing attache
"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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English Words Derived from French, List 4
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Monster
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“It’s a five alarm emergency that’s dividing North America from Europe,” said John Foreman, a former U.K. defense attaché in Moscow and Kyiv.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
The latest round of measures will boot the attaché, Maxim Elovik, a Russian colonel who the government termed an “undeclared military intelligence officer.”
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024
He began what local media portrays as an "exile", serving almost 10 years as an attaché to the Gabonese embassies in Morocco and Senegal.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2023
As an indication of warming ties, the Israeli military earlier on Monday appointed a colonel as defence attaché to Morocco.
From Reuters ● Jul. 17, 2023
On the fourth day, however, an attaché of the Marshal's office came to the jail, and calling for John Scully informed him that his presence was required by General Winder.
From The Spy of the Rebellion Being a True History of the Spy System of the United States Army during the Late Rebellion, by Allan Pinkerton
Military attachés, too, from a variety of embassies are observing the drill from a viewing platform.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
More information would be provided at a briefing for military attachés, he added.
From Reuters ● Oct. 16, 2022
In the early 1950s, the US government, in particular the Department of State and the CIA, tried using independent scientists as attachés — actually, spies.
From Nature ● Oct. 30, 2018
High-level defectors he reached for interviews described embassy officials and military attachés smuggling ivory from Angola, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as trafficking rhino horn from South Africa and Mozambique.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 16, 2017
In the middle will probably be an edifice devoted to the offices of the surgeon in charge and the ward surgeons, principal attachés, clerks, etc.
From The Wound Dresser A Series of Letters Written from the Hospitals in Washington during the War of the Rebellion by Walt Whitman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
