diplomat

A diplomat is a person who helps people who have differing points of view find common ground. In government, a diplomat is an official who represents his or her country in other nations.

The noun diplomat is related to the word diploma, from the Greek diploun, meaning “to fold double.” A diploma is an official paper — something diplomats carry on behalf of their governments. They know about all sides of an issue, which is helpful in times of conflict. You are a diplomat, if caught between Yankees and Red Sox fans, you get them to talk about hockey instead.

Definitions of diplomat
  1. noun
    an official engaged in international negotiations
    synonyms: diplomatist
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    examples:
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    Ralph Johnson Bunche
    United States diplomat and United Nations official (1904-1971)
    John Foster Dulles
    United States diplomat who (as Secretary of State) pursued a policy of opposition to the USSR by providing aid to American allies (1888-1959)
    John Kenneth Galbraith
    United States economist (born in Canada) who served as ambassador to India (born in 1908)
    Edmund Charles Edouard Genet
    French diplomat who in 1793 tried to draw the United States into the war between France and England (1763-1834)
    Huig de Groot
    Dutch jurist and diplomat whose writings established the basis of modern international law (1583-1645)
    Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjold
    Swedish diplomat who greatly extended the influence of the United Nations in peacekeeping matters (1905-1961)
    William Averell Harriman
    United States financier who negotiated a treaty with the Soviet Union banning tests of nuclear weapons (1891-1986)
    Townsend Harris
    United States diplomat who was instrumental in opening Japan to foreign trade (1804-1878)
    Cordell Hull
    United States diplomat who did the groundwork for creating the United Nations (1871-1955)
    John Jay
    United States diplomat and jurist who negotiated peace treaties with Britain and served as the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1745-1829)
    Henry Alfred Kissinger
    United States diplomat who served under President Nixon and President Ford (born in 1923)
    Le Duc Tho
    Vietnamese diplomat who negotiated with Henry Kissinger to end the war in Vietnam (1911-1990)
    Vicomte Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps
    French diplomat who supervised the construction of the Suez Canal (1805-1894)
    Trygve Halvden Lie
    Norwegian diplomat who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations (1896-1968)
    Sir Harold George Nicolson
    English diplomat and author (1886-1968)
    Thomas Nelson Page
    United States diplomat and writer about the Old South (1853-1922)
    Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
    wife of Franklin Roosevelt and a strong advocate of human rights (1884-1962)
    Adlai Ewing Stevenson
    United States politician and diplomat (1900-1968)
    Kurt Waldheim
    Austrian diplomat who was Secretary General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981; in 1986 he was elected president of Austria in spite of worldwide allegations that he had direct knowledge of Nazi atrocities during World War II (born in 1918)
    Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko
    Soviet ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations (1909-1989)
    types:
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    ambassador, embassador
    a diplomat of the highest rank; accredited as representative from one country to another
    charge d'affaires
    the official temporarily in charge of a diplomatic mission in the absence of the ambassador
    consul
    a diplomat appointed by a government to protect its commercial interests and help its citizens in a foreign country
    envoy, envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary
    a diplomat having less authority than an ambassador
    high commissioner
    a senior diplomat from one country to another who is assigned ambassadorial rank
    internuncio
    (Roman Catholic Church) a diplomatic representative of the Pope ranking below a nuncio
    diplomatic minister, minister
    a diplomat representing one government to another; ranks below ambassador
    nuncio, papal nuncio
    (Roman Catholic Church) a diplomatic representative of the Pope having ambassadorial status
    persona grata
    a diplomat who is acceptable to the government to which he is sent
    persona non grata
    a diplomat who is unacceptable to the government to which he is sent
    plenipotentiary
    a diplomat who is fully authorized to represent his or her government
    George F. Kennan, George Frost Kennan, Kennan
    United States diplomat who recommended a policy of containment in dealing with Soviet aggression (1904-2005)
    ambassadress
    a woman ambassador
    type of:
    functionary, official
    a worker who holds or is invested with an office
  2. noun
    a person who deals tactfully with others
    see moresee less
    type of:
    go-between, intercessor, intermediary, intermediator, mediator
    a negotiator who acts as a link between parties
Word Family
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