the Foreign Office

noun

: a government department especially in Great Britain that deals with foreign affairs

Note: The official name of the British Foreign Office is now the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Examples of the Foreign Office in a Sentence

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The sceptics also include some in the Foreign Office (the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. State Department) who dislike intensely the way Starmer has flattered Trump by, for example, inviting him for an unprecedented second state visit. Ian King, CNBC, 21 Jan. 2026 To formally present his invention, Matip is invited to a meeting at Wyvern Abbey, the country estate of George Lomax (Alex Macqueen), Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office. Isadora Wandermurem, Time, 15 Jan. 2026 The Russian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office to respond to the report and to ongoing Russian hybrid operations. Amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025 Above him, Princess Kate watched in quiet composure from the Foreign Office balcony. Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 12 Nov. 2025 Hassan also told the British newspaper that Sadaf Javed, Syed’s older sister, who resides in London, wants to go to Ahmedabad but received no assistance from the Foreign Office. David Chiu, People.com, 13 June 2025 Subsequently, other prime ministers went ahead and reduced the Foreign Office grant to the BBC, even in the midst of the Cold War, forcing it to close down or scale back some of its foreign-language services. Simon J. Potter, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2023

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“The Foreign Office.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20Foreign%20Office. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.

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