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

Unless attitudes have fundamentally changed at Foggy Bottom, I strongly suspect that any attempt to graft a fully effective bureau that commands interagency respect at the highest levels onto the existing structure will fail.

From Washington Post • Apr. 21, 2023

“Human beings are meant to live in small groups, in villages,” said Allie Geoca, 26, who was a med school student when she moved into the Foggy Bottom alley in 2018.

From Washington Post • Apr. 13, 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