civil servant

noun

1

: a member of a civil service

2

: a member of the administrative staff of an international agency

Synonyms of civil servant

• public servant
• clerk
• official
• employee
• worker
• bureaucrat

Examples of civil servant in a Sentence

took the examination to become a civil servant in the defense department

Recent Examples on the Web

Emmanuel Marre | Belgium | 155 min Cannes Best Screenplay winner A MAN OF HIS TIME stars ANATOMY OF A FALL’s Swann Arlaud as a Vichy civil servant whose faith in government collapses amid collaboration, bureaucracy, and moral surrender. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2026

Hiroto Sakata, a civil servant from Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, visited Tokyo's Asakusa district on a day trip and purchased tickets for two people, which cost 2,000 yen total, and skipped the line. — Masayuki Oi Japan News, Arkansas Online, 25 Sep. 2026

Set in the summer of 1970, the story turns on the diligent civil servant Heikki who decides to host a high-ranking Soviet diplomat at his family’s lakeside cottage. — Annika Pham, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026

Experts say the Houthis have struggled to pay salaries to civil servants, including public sector doctors and diverted most tax revenues to their military wing. — Fatma Khaled, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1767, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for civil servant

• fervent
• maidservant
• manservant
• observant