Definition of statesman
1 : one versed in the principles or art of government; especially : one actively engaged in conducting the business of a government or in shaping its policies
2 : a wise, skillful, and respected political leader
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Examples of statesman in a Sentence
He was a soldier and statesman.
Recent Examples of statesman from the Web
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Just a-grinnin’ and toe-tapping along with one of the genre’s elder statesman.
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The elder statesman of the bunch at 27, Anthony Rizzo’s batting average is some 50 points off last year’s pace.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt used a group of go-betweens to privately maintain close relations with British statesman Winston Churchill while the United States remained officially neutral before entering the Second World War.
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Born in the port of Hania on the southern Greek island of Crete on Oct. 18, 1918, Mitsotakis was the nephew of liberal statesman Eleftherios Venizelos and was first elected to Parliament as a member of that party in 1946.
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His world view was often compared with that of Henry Kissinger, whose work under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford gave him similar statesman stature within the Republican Party.
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In Saudi Arabia, the President came across as a statesman, choosing to jettison some of the sharper rhetoric that peppered his campaign speeches in favor of building bridges with Muslim allies.
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The musicians even had an unwitting role as statesmen.
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At ROFLCon, that qualifies them as elder statesmen.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'statesman'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
1592
First Known Use of statesman
1592
STATESMAN Defined for English Language Learners
statesman
playDefinition of statesman for English Language Learners
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: a usually wise, skilled, and respected government leader
STATESMAN Defined for Kids
statesman
playDefinition of statesman for Students
statesmen
\-mən\: a usually wise, skilled, and respected government leader
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Spanish Central: Translation of statesman Nglish: Translation of statesman for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of statesman for Arabic speakers
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