dignitary
Americannoun
-
dignitaries
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dignitary
Explanation
A dignitary is a very important person (VIP), usually from another country. Major dignitaries from other countries might get to meet the President when they visit the U.S. If you see the word dignity in dignitary, it gives you a clue to its meaning. When we treat people with dignity, we're treating them with respect. Dignitaries get a lot of respect, because they're important and powerful people in their country — heads of state, ambassadors, and royalty are all dignitaries. It's not easy to become a dignitary: you'd better either be born into the right family or become a powerful person in some other way.
Vocabulary lists containing dignitary
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
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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:
He offers Gruel a lazy thumbs-up, accepts the chef’s joke about cooking for a dignitary and immediately turns to the camera to recite the show’s mission statement.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
If she enters the race, she could face off against a DSA dignitary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
"Almost certainly you've got a major local dignitary making themselves at home here," he added.
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2026
“I need to go in the exact way that a foreign dignitary would go,” he insists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2025
“Oh, nothing like that. My sister Sudha met with fracture sometime back,” Comrade Pillai said, as though Fracture were a visiting dignitary.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
But the event also was a chance for billionaire business leaders to mingle with the Chinese dignitaries, top U.S. officials and Trump himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
They joined other dignitaries for King Harald's funeral before flying on to Iceland for a brief visit and then to Canada for further talks.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
In Gaza City, community elders, mokhtars, local dignitaries and civil defense crews gathered Tuesday for a mass funeral after the recovery effort that was accomplished with a single excavator and simple hand tools.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Sobers' body lay in state at the Barbados parliament on Monday and at the Kensington Oval on Tuesday, with national dignitaries and members of the public able to pay their respects.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
A young mule skinner named Milton Humason helped to transport mechanical and optical equipment, scientists, engineers and dignitaries up the mountain.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
