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
  • The Indian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said Thursday that Flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar is recovering well after being seriously injured.
    — Christine Valora, The Washington Examiner, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The European expansion will launch in London and Paris through employee ambassador trainings and hands-on learning experiences for young people.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of ambassador
Noun
  • Embassies, banks, and big-name retailers share the neighborhood with this member of The Leading Hotels of the World, whose guest list includes big celebrities and diplomats.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The latest tensions also follow the expulsion of an Egyptian diplomat, who was declared persona non grata.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 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
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said that Moscow was ready to help defuse tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, senior envoy to Europe at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the unrest began with legitimate concerns but has since evolved into something far more serious.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of envoy
Noun
  • Active in Finnish and European politics for two decades, Stubb has served in the European Parliament and as Finland’s finance minister, foreign minister, prime minister and now its president.
    — John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Alexandra Hill Tinoco, the foreign minister of El Salvador, asked Monday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of foreign minister
Noun
  • Jamal, who co-founded the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, which helps immigrants find pro bono attorneys, also helped retain a lawyer for the Somali teenager charged with piracy in the infamous Captain Richard Phillips hostage-taking.
    — Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Federal government attorneys say the lawsuits are a backdoor way to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions and amount to an unconstitutional power grab.
    — LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of attorney

Browse Nearby Words

plenipotentiaries
plenipotentiary
plenitude
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Cite this Entry

“Plenipotentiary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plenipotentiary. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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