undersecretary
Britishnoun
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any of various senior civil servants in certain government departments
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short for undersecretary of state: any of various high officials subordinate only to the minister in charge of a department
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(in the US) a high government official subordinate only to the secretary in charge of a department
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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.
His replacement, Cao, became undersecretary in October 2025 and is a 25-year Navy veteran.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy, wrote that it’s in the national interest to “seek to reduce civilian harm to the degree possible.”
From Salon • Mar. 11, 2026
Emil Michael, the undersecretary of war, wrote on X Thursday that he agreed mass surveillance was unlawful, and the Department of Defense “would never do it.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026
Emil Michael, the undersecretary of war for research and engineering, shared a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier Thursday noting that mass surveillance is already illegal under the Fourth Amendment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
“How many times must I tell you not to bite off more than you can chew?” snapped the undersecretary, patting the distressed earl on the back.
From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
