good offices

plural noun

1. influence, especially with a person in a position of power:

   He got the job through the good offices of his uncle.

2. services rendered by a mediator in a dispute.

Word History and Origins

Origin of good offices¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

"It is not the time now for good offices. It is now a time of war," he said.

From Reuters

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would definitely “use all his good offices in order to help this process to find a solution to the Cyprus issue.”

From Seattle Times

“Prigozhin was his creature, utterly created by Putin, and yet he turned on him. He really didn’t fight back against Prigozhin; he cut a deal to save his skin using the good offices of the leader of Belarus.”

From New York Times

“I think we would urge the secretary-general to use his good offices because it is such a crisis.”

From Seattle Times

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he used his “good offices” and asked Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths, the head of the U.N.’s worldwide humanitarian operations, to explore the possibility of a cease-fire with Russia and Ukraine.

From Seattle Times