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secretary-general

American  
[sek-ri-ter-ee-jen-er-uhl] / ˈsɛk rɪˌtɛr iˈdʒɛn ər əl /

noun

  • secretaries-general
    plural
  1. the head or chief administrative officer of a secretariat.


secretary-general British  

noun

  1. a chief administrative official, as of the United Nations

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of secretary-general

First recorded in 1695–1705

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:

Camille Grand, a former assistant secretary-general of NATO, said that some complaints were exaggerated.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 19, 2026

Tuesday's ruling granting the petition was "a major step, a major decision, a great blessing", said Salman Akram Raja, secretary-general of Khan's political party, in a video shared on Facebook from outside the court.

From Barron's Aug. 18, 2026

Nominated by Tonga, the former foreign trade minister joins a growing field to become secretary-general of the international organization that has been buffeted by global divisions and budget issues.

From Barron's Aug. 18, 2026

"A stalled process is better than no process," emphasises Georgette Gagnon, a deputy special representative of the secretary-general for Afghanistan, who is now the acting head of the UN mission in Kabul.

From BBC Aug. 14, 2026

Walter Sisulu was elected the new secretary-general, and Oliver Tambo was elected to the National Executive Committee.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

We don’t know why they didn’t invoke Article 99, and several of the previous secretaries-general are now dead.

From Seattle Times Dec. 7, 2023

Previous secretaries-general have brought threats that they saw to international peace and security to the Security Council without mentioning Article 99.

From Seattle Times Dec. 7, 2023

"The secretaries-general who've failed to get full second terms have antagonized one of the permanent five Security Council members," he said.

From Reuters Jun. 19, 2011

At Caramanlis' urging, the Cabinet fired all the military-appointed provincial prefects and all secretaries-general of the government ministries.

From Time Magazine Archive

The chief of all the personnel of prefects, under-prefects, and secretaries-general represented there, lolling on these velvet divans in this vulgar greenroom.

From His Excellency the Minister by Henri Roberts

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