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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:

It will create "a more unified country to overcome the challenges the country currently faces", said Tiglu Melese, secretary-general of parliament's upper house.

From Barron's Aug. 31, 2026

Christelle Kauffmann, the union's deputy secretary-general, is among the minority of school leaders who anticipated the measure.

From Barron's Aug. 24, 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

The chair, who serves as principal adviser to the alliance’s secretary-general, is elected by national defense chiefs.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 11, 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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