plenipotentiary

noun

Definition of plenipotentiarynext
as in ambassador
technical a person (such as a diplomat) who has complete power to do business for a government

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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 plenipotentiary Walpole’s most frequent correspondent was Horace Mann, the British plenipotentiary in Florence, Italy. — Catherine Ostler, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2022 Morris was eventually the United States’ plenipotentiary to France and spent years afterward touring Europe and having affairs there. — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 4 June 2019 These succeeded to the extent that a meeting was brought about in 1880 between plenipotentiaries of the three belligerents and the American Ministers accredited to those countries on board an American naval vessel in the harbor of Arica. — Edwin M. Borchard, Foreign Affairs, 7 Oct. 2011
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plenipotentiary
  1. ambassador
  2. diplomat
  3. diplomatist
  4. emissary
  5. legate
  6. envoy
  7. foreign minister
  8. attorney
Noun
  • In August, Under Armour named the rapper its global brand ambassador and creative director of P-Star, a new platform spanning apparel, footwear and community initiatives.
    — Emanuel Okusanya, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Later on, in the fourth quarter, after an errant pass was batted upward and, eventually, into the hands of an offensive lineman, Kelce, ever the ambassador for his undersung position, was full of primal delight.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of ambassador
Noun
  • In March 2024, Josep Borrell, a top EU diplomat, accused Israel of creating a famine and using starvation as a weapon of war.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Diplomatic unease The diplomat’s remarks come amid diplomatic unease over the latest revisions to the electoral decree , the third in four months.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of diplomat
Noun
  • The trouble, rather, is that even our top foreign-policy experts and our most sophisticated diplomatists are creatures of our own cultural heritage and intellectual environment.
    — Nicholas Eberstadt, National Review, 11 Sep. 2017
Definition of diplomatist
Noun
  • Beck was playing a shabby, malnourished musician living in a shack who acts as an emissary of a weird celebrity cult.
    — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
  • See pictures from the funeral below, along with a list of the foreign emissaries who attended.
    — Stefania Conrieri, Vanity Fair, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of emissary
Noun
  • However, papal legates—diplomatic representatives—continue their external functions.
    — Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Apr. 2025
  • In the 1520s Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal legate of England, drove forward a similar program of moral and financial reform, winding up a further 29 monasteries.
    — Crawford Gribben, WSJ, 29 Apr. 2022
Definition of legate
Noun
  • The top trade envoys for China and the European Union agreed Friday on a broad initial deal following two days of talks aimed at calming escalating tensions over trade imbalances, the EU trade commissioner said.
    — Sam McNeil, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The top trade envoys for China and the European Union wrapped up two days of talks Friday aimed at calming escalating tensions over growing imbalances between the two giant economies.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of envoy
Noun
  • Turkey’s foreign minister said earlier this year that his country would consider doing the same.
    — Philip H. Gordon, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Days later, after North Korea’s vice foreign minister addressed the UN General Assembly, the mission published the phone number in question on the first page of the minister’s speech.
    — Max Saltman, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of foreign minister
Noun
  • Twenty-seven states have passed laws ensuring that defendants in consumer debt cases have the right to an attorney once jail time becomes a possibility, Jones said.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Kolodin, an attorney who had lost a GOP primary for the state Senate that summer, was seen as something of a gadfly by some in the state GOP and hardly seen at all by others.
    — Laura Meckler, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of attorney

Browse Nearby Words

plenipotentiaries
plenipotentiary
plenitude
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“Plenipotentiary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plenipotentiary. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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