civil servant

noun

1. a civil-service employee.

civil servant

noun

1. a member of the civil service

Word History and Origins

Origin of civil servant¹

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, the UK's most senior civil servant, told ministers last month they should "exercise discretion and should not take part in the public debate".

From BBC

He has also pledged to fire thousands of civil servants unless they pledge to be loyal to him, as well as scrub references to climate change from government documents.

From Salon

And, we understand, the cabinet secretary, the most senior civil servant in the country, had spoken to her to confirm this.

From BBC

Born to a poor civil servant’s family in 1949, just a year before the Korean War broke out, Im grew up with five siblings in an industrial neighborhood of Seoul.

From Los Angeles Times

We still have legions of elected officials, civil servants, advocates and journalists who will use their positions to resist the next administration’s excesses.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• public servant