under secretary

American  

[uhn-der-sek-ri-ter-ee] / ˈʌn dərˈsɛk rɪˌtɛr i /

Or undersecretary

noun

(often initial capital letters)

1. an official who is subordinate to a principal secretary, as in the U.S. cabinet.

   Under Secretary of the Treasury.

---

Etymology

Origin of under secretary

First recorded in 1680–90

Example Sentences

They were released as the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes steps to discourage eating junk foods, including issuing new dietary guidelines advising Americans to avoid highly processed foods with added sugars and salt, such as packaged chips, cookies and candy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Emil Michael, under secretary for research and engineering, has led the Defense Department’s negotiations with Anthropic.

From The Wall Street Journal

As the department’s under secretary for research and engineering reporting to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Michael has been the public face of the Pentagon in a saga that has consumed attention spans in Washington and Silicon Valley.

From The Wall Street Journal

The AI developer had been in negotiations with the Department of Defense but on Thursday, Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael said talks were off.

From BBC

On Friday, Sarah Rogers, the State Department under secretary for public diplomacy, said Deranque's killing showed "why we treat political violence -- terrorism -- so harshly".

From Barron's