secretary
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An assistant who handles correspondence and clerical work for a boss or an organization.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sehkruhtuhreeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɛkɹətɛɹi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An assistant who handles correspondence and clerical work for a boss or an organization
A person who keeps records, takes notes and handles general clerical work.
A person who is head of an administrative department of government
A managerial or leading position in certain non-profit organizations, such as political parties, trade unions, international organizations.
US
A desk used for writing
us
A type of desk, secretary desk; a secretaire.
verb
transitive
To serve as a secretary of.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An assistant who handles correspondence and clerical work for a boss or an organization
Used this way, secretary is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use secretary
- “The secretary scheduled all the meetings for the upcoming week.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Large long-legged African bird of prey that feeds on reptiles.
A person who is a chief administrator (as of the United Nations).
The person who holds the secretaryship of the Department of Agriculture.
The person who holds the secretaryship of the Department of Commerce.
Head of a former executive department created in 1903 and divided into two departments in 1913.
The person who holds the secretaryship of the Defense Department.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to a secretary or to a secretary's work.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.