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

On board was an American diplomat, Francis Loomis, the US envoy to Venezuela. —Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026

Nicolás Maduro, right, with Qiu Xiaoqi, China’s special envoy for Latin America, earlier this month. —Jennifer Jett, NBC news, 10 Jan. 2026

Trump has even appointed an envoy to that end. —Comfort Ero, Time, 9 Jan. 2026

Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark’s chief envoy to Washington, said in a post responding to Miller, who is married to Trump’s influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. —Aamer Madhani, Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2026

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