undersecretary

noun

un·​der·​sec·​re·​tary ˌən-dər-ˈse-krə-ˌter-ē 

-ˈse-kə-

variants or under secretary

: a secretary immediately subordinate to a principal secretary

—often capitalized when used as a title

the British Undersecretary for India

the Under Secretary of the Treasury

Examples of undersecretary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Fayed al-Noman, the information ministry's assistant undersecretary, said the attack severely damaged port buildings and piers as well as commercial goods and food supplies. — Duarte Dias, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026

Fayed al-Noman, the information ministry’s assistant undersecretary, said the rebels fired missiles and drones, severely damaging port buildings and piers as well as commercial goods and food supplies. — Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2026

The Veterans Health Administration and the undersecretary for health agreed with the inspectors’ recommendations, which included improving image-sharing technology and adding staff. — Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 26 May 2026

John Hurley left his post as undersecretary for terrorism after raising privacy concerns about federal monitoring of international payments from the Minneapolis area. — Andrew Ackerman, Washington Post, 28 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1687, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for undersecretary

• beneficiary
• bronchopulmonary
• evolutionary
• expeditionary
• extramedullary
• extraordinary
• extrapulmonary
• genitourinary
• geostationary
• hepatobiliary
• illocutionary
• insurrectionary

Kids Definition

undersecretary

noun

un·​der·​sec·​re·​tary ˌən-dər-ˈsek-rə-ˌter-ē 

: a secretary right under a principal secretary

undersecretary of state