private secretary

American  

noun

1. a person who attends to the individual or confidential correspondence, files, etc., of a business executive, official, or the like.

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private secretary British  

noun

1. a secretary entrusted with the personal and confidential matters of a business executive

2. a civil servant who acts as aide to a minister or senior government official Compare parliamentary private secretary

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Etymology

Origin of private secretary

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

“He was friendly,” Churchill’s private secretary wrote, “but he never smiled: a change from the Ike of war days.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Lewis, Jefferson’s private secretary, had grown up a rambler and a keen observer of the natural world.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

On 8 February 2010, the then-Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk wrote to Epstein on behalf of Ferguson, to invite him to Andrew's 50th birthday party later that month at St James's Palace in London.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026

"In terms of public perception," wrote No 10 private secretary Clare Sumner, "the amounts involved are quite large".

From BBC • Jul. 21, 2025

Mrs. Palmer was in Europe at the time, but her private secretary, Laura Hayes, a gossip of virtuosic scope, made sure her employer learned all the details.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson