civil servant

Definition of civil servantnext
as in public servant
a worker in a government agency took the examination to become a civil servant in the defense department

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of civil servant Last year, approximately three hundred and fifty-two thousand civil servants left their jobs, fulfilling one of the Administration’s stated goals of dismantling the government bureaucracy and demoralizing the federal workforce. Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2026 The best way to begin this journey is to bring people into this system by expanding Medicare to civil servants, military, police, and teachers. Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Feb. 2026 All told, the agency lost more than 17,000 civil servants through firings and resignations in 2025—including many scientific leaders at the FDA, CDC and NIH. Dan Vergano, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2026 Gezi gave way to crackdowns and an administrative witch hunt that saw thousands of academics, judges, journalists, lawyers, and civil servants jailed. Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for civil servant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for civil servant
Noun
  • The perpetrators were not children, but knowledgeable adults who willfully chose to harass public servants.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Callum Heskett pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, and false reporting of an emergency, a misdemeanor, according to a news release from the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
    Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 23 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • According to the union, the tentative agreement would still need to be ratified by a majority of about 220 clerks before being adopted as a contract.
    Tim Fang, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2026
  • This includes a comic scene about proofreading the monotonous legal documents that clerks like Bartleby were paid pennies to copy, and a scene at the end where a jail cook rattles off all the former occupations of its now-nameless inmates.
    Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • Activists have not communicated with police or city officials about the sirens, raising some concerns about how the devices are being used, how to inform residents about what the sounds from the sirens mean, and the possibility that the noise could become a nuisance.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
  • But the county party official, who was the most senior Republican political leader in the chat, was not entirely absent either.
    Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Relatives can give up to $5,000 per year to the accounts, and companies can give their employees and employees' children $2,500.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 27 Feb. 2026
  • The Zalando prize money helped Gassanoff pay his rent, keep his one employee and two interns, produce the next collection, and compensate the artisans who made it.
    Lucy Maguire, Vogue, 27 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • First, famed filmmaker James Cameron endorsed Paramount, saying a Netflix takeover would lead to massive job losses in the entertainment industry, which is already reeling from a production slowdown in Southern California that has disrupted the lives of thousands of film industry workers.
    Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2026
  • The Labor Department published a rule Friday that would undo egregious attempts during the last administration to classify more workers as employees rather than independent contractors.
    Editorial Board, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • Playing fast and loose with federal funds could reflect an issue within a singular agency — inadequate leadership, bad direction or rogue bureaucrats, for example.
    Steve Arentz, Baltimore Sun, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Trump is the one person who can stop this proposal with one word to the federal bureaucrats who put forth this plan.
    Shane Weddle, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Civil servant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civil%20servant. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

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