undersecretary

noun

un·​der·​sec·​re·​tary ˌən-dər-ˈse-krə-ˌter-ē 

-ˈse-kə-

variants or under secretary

: a secretary immediately subordinate to a principal secretary

—often capitalized when used as a title

the British Undersecretary for India

the Under Secretary of the Treasury

Examples of undersecretary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

John Keeble/Getty Images What To Know During talks on security and defense-industry cooperation, the UAE's defense undersecretary inspected a prototype version of South Korea's KF-21 at Sacheon Air Base and flew as a passenger in the rear seat of one of the aircraft, officials said. —Amira El-Fekki‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025

Two years ago, Webuild appointed Gianni De Gennaro, a former head of the Italian police and undersecretary of state for intelligence and security services, as president of Eurolink. —CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025

The memorandum required implementing guidance within 15 days and empowered the undersecretary for intelligence and security to audit personnel and insider threat programs of DIB vendors. —Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Sarah Rogers, of New York, to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy The undersecretary works to improve relationships between the citizens of the U.S. and foreign nations. —Ally Goelz, The Washington Examiner, 1 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1687, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for undersecretary

• beneficiary
• bronchopulmonary
• evolutionary
• expeditionary
• extramedullary
• extraordinary
• extrapulmonary
• genitourinary
• geostationary
• hepatobiliary
• illocutionary
• insurrectionary

Kids Definition

undersecretary

noun

un·​der·​sec·​re·​tary ˌən-dər-ˈsek-rə-ˌter-ē 

: a secretary right under a principal secretary

undersecretary of state