emissary

noun em·is·sary \ ˈe-mə-ˌser-ē , -ˌse-rē \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: emissary in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of emissary

plural emissaries

1 : one designated as the agent of another : representative

2 : a secret agent

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emissary was our Word of the Day on 08/28/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of emissary in a Sentence

She acted as the president's personal emissary to the union leaders.
most of the industrialized nations of the world sent emissaries to the conference on global warming

Recent Examples of emissary from the Web

An angry Catholic mob marched on the home of Bishop John Purcell on Christmas 1853 to protest a visit by Cardinal Gaetano Bedini, an Italian emissary of Pope Pius IX.

— john kiesewetter, Cincinnati.com, "Civil unrest woven into city's history," 8 June 2018
In this image, RFK is neither his dapper brother’s ghost nor his ostentatious father’s emissary.

— alice george, Smithsonian, "On the Eve of his Death, Robert Kennedy Was a Whirlwind of Empathy and Internal Strife," 7 June 2018
An emissary for the Shogun visits the Japanese version of the Mariposa Saloon and orders Akane to hand over that daughter, a young geisha named Sakura.

— sandra upson, WIRED, "Westworld Recap, Season 2 Episode 5: More Dead Than Alive," 21 May 2018
Along with a cast that included President Bill Clinton, Mr. de Blasio was an indispensable emissary as Mr. Cuomo quit the race and endorsed his opponent, H. Carl McCall.

— shane goldmacher and j. david goodman, New York Times, "Inside One of America’s Ugliest Political Feuds: Cuomo vs. de Blasio," 22 Apr. 2018
However trusted by the president, Pompeo is hardly a traditional emissary.

— mark landler, BostonGlobe.com, "Secret Pompeo mission to North Korea shows Trump’s trust in spies over diplomats," 18 Apr. 2018
China watchers point to Ross’s rocky record as a Trump emissary to Beijing.

— tory newmyer, Washington Post, "The Finance 202: Wilbur Ross, after rocky year, has a tough sell in China next week," 25 May 2018
One of PSY Group's founders, Joel Zamel, met in August 2016 at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr. and an emissary to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss how PSY Group could help Trump win, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

— michael riley and lauren etter, chicagotribune.com, "Mueller investigating flows of money to Israeli social media company," 22 May 2018
Maeve quipped after Akane poked an emissary in the eye, one of a few of this episode’s examples of hyper-stylized violence.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Westworld: A Cut Above," 20 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'emissary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Like missionaries, emissaries are sent on missions. However, emissaries are more likely to be representing governments, political leaders, and nonreligious institutions, and an emissary's mission is usually to negotiate or to gather information. So a president may send a trusted emissary to a war-torn region to discuss peace terms. A company's CEO may send an emissary to check out another company that they may be thinking of buying. And a politician may send out an emissary to persuade a wealthy individual to become a supporter.