foreign service

noun

, (often initial capital letters)

1. a division of the U.S. Department of State or of a foreign office that maintains diplomatic and consular posts and personnel in other countries.

foreign service

noun

1. the diplomatic and usually consular personnel of a foreign affairs ministry or foreign office collectively who represent their country abroad, deal with foreign diplomats at home, etc

Foreign Service

1. The professional arm of the executive branch that supplies diplomats for the United States embassies and consulates around the world. Ambassadors, though officially members of the Foreign Service, are sometimes friends of the president of the United States appointed in gratitude for support given during elections.

Word History and Origins

Origin of foreign service¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

If confirmed, Stefanik would replace UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat who worked for the US Foreign Service for 35 years.

From BBC

That is what so many of these people in the State Department, in the Foreign Service, did all those Trump years.

From Los Angeles Times

The first season introduced Russell’s Kate Wyler as a seasoned foreign service officer who has her sights set on taking a post in Afghanistan but is reluctantly enlisted by the White House to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom in order to quietly prep her to become vice president.

From Los Angeles Times

Consulate in Paris, though he had no experience in the foreign service.

From Los Angeles Times

McEldowney was a career diplomat and former director of the Foreign Service Institute.

From Slate