How to Use secretary-general in a Sentence

secretary-general

noun
  • How many secretaries-general have there been, and could the new one be the first woman?
    Tim Backshall, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The key challenge for a secretary-general is to figure out what is achievable in each of the three roles.
    Ian Johnstone, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026
  • An extension just until the end of the year would leave the choice of a new human rights chief to the next secretary-general.
    ABC News, 24 July 2026
  • The final report will be made public once handed over to the secretary-general.
    Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 11 Feb. 2024
  • The secretary-general also expressed alarm over the use of drones, citing the growing number of child victims.
    Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 13 July 2026
  • Countries will next vote to appoint a new secretary-general in 2026.
    Abiodun Williams, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The secretary-general called for reaffirming the two-state solution.
    Jon Haworth, ABC News, 5 Feb. 2025
  • Only then can a secretary-general identify where the opportunities lie and choose the moment and method for stepping in.
    Ian Johnstone, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Sometimes secretaries-general can surprise, as my former boss Kofi Annan did.
    Ian Johnstone, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The United Nations also begins to choose its next secretary-general.
    Emmet Livingstone, NPR, 29 July 2026
  • Most of the rest of the membership want an independent and proactive secretary-general that the P5 cannot control.
    Ian Johnstone, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026
  • For this election, there’s a lot of interest in whether a woman will be chosen to be secretary-general for the first time, with several strong female candidates.
    Tim Backshall, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Sep. 2026
  • By tradition, the secretary-general rotates by region.
    ABC News, 20 Apr. 2026
  • So far, its members have never rejected a recommendation for the secretary-general role.
    Tim Backshall, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Seth Panyako, secretary-general of the nurses' union, said his members would return to hospitals within 24 hours.
    ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Now, in an unusual move, the top official in one — the secretary-general of the United Nations — is pressing for major changes in the other two.
    Edith M. Lederer, BostonGlobe.com, 17 June 2023
  • The doors opened to reveal Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah.
    Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
  • The secretary-general of a bloc of Gulf Arab countries said that Iran is charging fees for ships to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz.
    Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Thant’s accomplishments are all the more impressive because the position of secretary-general carries no real power—except for the moral authority to speak for the world as a whole.
    Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
  • The strike has drawn wide condemnation from the secretary-general of the United Nations and international human rights groups.
    Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
  • An advocate for the rights of women and girls, Trenou served as secretary-general of the Togolese women’s union during the 1960s.
    Time, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The former secretary-general of the United Nations was a co-recipient of the Peace prize in 2001.
    Connor Greene, Time, 16 Jan. 2026
  • About 115 ships were able to move out of the strait in recent days, leaving about 500 still in the area, said Arsenio Dominguez, the agency’s secretary-general.
    Collin Binkley, Christian Science Monitor, 26 June 2026
  • About 115 ships were able to move out of the strait in recent days, leaving about 500 still in the area, said Arsenio Dominguez, the agency's secretary-general.
    Arkansas Online, 27 June 2026
  • Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, pushed back on the claim of unpaid taxes during his daily press briefing on Monday.
    Tamar Michaelis, CNN Money, 8 Dec. 2025
  • Jagland at the time was the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, an international organization focused on human rights and the rule of law on the continent.
    Daniel Arkin, NBC news, 13 Nov. 2025
  • Nasrallah took the role of Hezbollah’s secretary-general following the demise of his predecessor at the hands of the IDF over 30 years ago.
    The Editors, National Review, 28 Sep. 2024
  • Mohamed Nasheed is the secretary-general of the Climate Vulnerable Forum.
    Mohamed Nasheed, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Gal Cohen, the secretary-general of Be’eri, has been advocating for residents to return; his goal is for between eighty and ninety per cent to do so by the end of 2026.
    Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2024
  • Trump reportedly wants Infantino to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations, per the New York Post.
    Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 22 July 2026

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

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