foreign service

noun

: the field force of a foreign office comprising diplomatic and consular personnel

Examples of foreign service in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web As foreign service officers jockey and jive for influence, power, and a sense of significance, minorities, deprived of institutional support, are falling out of the ranks, victim to gaslighting and other adversities. Byjenny Abamu, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 There are conflicting accounts about whether he was paid for his foreign service. Nate Jones, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024 James Rogan is a former foreign service officer, attorney, and banker. James Rogan, Washington Examiner, 13 Jan. 2024 But of all the spy scandals in the last 40 years, Mr. Rocha is believed to be the first member of America’s elite foreign service to have been accused of betraying their oath, said Kevin Whitaker, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia. Joshua Goodman and Eric Tucker, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Dec. 2023 The unfolding crisis proved to be an ideal stage for Kissinger’s brand of diplomacy — secret, personal and contemptuous of the professional foreign service. Norman Kempster, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2023 Sanderson, a former foreign service officer at the U.S. Department of State, is also a professor of practice at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. IEEE Spectrum, 7 Dec. 2023 Before her appointment as the department's first diversity chief, Abercrombie-Winstanley, who has 30 years of experience working in foreign services, served as the deputy coordinator for counterterrorism during the George W. Bush administration. Misty Severi, Washington Examiner, 6 June 2023 Arévalo, 64, a sociologist and former diplomat, said that his four-year budget proposal for foreign services would double that of the Giammattei administration, from $118 million to $237 million. Soudi Jiménez, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foreign service.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1799, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of foreign service was in 1799

Dictionary Entries Near foreign service

Cite this Entry

“Foreign service.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreign%20service. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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