envoy

noun

en·​voy ˈen-ˌvȯi  ˈän- 

1

a

: a minister plenipotentiary accredited to a foreign government who ranks between an ambassador and a minister resident

called also envoy extraordinary

b

: a person delegated to represent one government in its dealings with another

2

: messenger, representative

Synonyms of envoy

• ambassador
• delegate
• representative
• minister

Examples of envoy in a Sentence

the president sent the secretary of state as his personal envoy to gain the support of the country's allies

one of the hostage takers was chosen as the group's envoy for all dealings with the authorities

Recent Examples on the Web

That is a low-level diplomatic crisis that Ireland’s envoys have been working hard to amend—work which could, potentially, conflict with the comments of their new President. —Gavan Reilly, Time, 12 Nov. 2025

Ghana has been one of the first countries to make major Article 6 sales, and some other African nations are eager to follow, Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s special climate envoy, told Semafor. —Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 11 Nov. 2025

Lownie indicated that Andrew reportedly spent a lot of money on his trips as a trade envoy. —Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 10 Nov. 2025

Lutfey Siddiqi, the special envoy for international affairs in Bangladesh’s interim government, also said at the Fortune Global Forum that his country’s young demographic is key to economic progress, making an oil analogy to explain how Bangladesh should leverage that advantage. —Phil Wahba, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French envoyé, from past participle of envoyer to send, from Old French enveier

First Known Use

1653, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

envoy

noun

en·​voy ˈen-ˌvȯi  ˈän- 

1

a

: a diplomatic representative who ranks between an ambassador and a minister

b

: a representative sent by one government to another

ambassadors and other envoys

2

: representative entry 2 sense 2, messenger