civil servant

noun

1

: a member of a civil service

2

: a member of the administrative staff of an international agency

Synonyms of civil servant

• public servant
• clerk
• official
• employee
• worker
• bureaucrat

Examples of civil servant in a Sentence

took the examination to become a civil servant in the defense department

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the past several weeks, CBS News has spoken with roughly two dozen Department of Homeland Security personnel spanning career civil servants, uniformed personnel and frontline staff about the institutional strain caused by the partial government shutdown, now in its 68th day. —Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026

Starmer faced a hostile Parliament Monday over his appointment of the disgraced Peter Mandelson as US ambassador; the premier blamed civil servants, a high-risk strategy given that one of those civil servants will be questioned by lawmakers today. —Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 21 Apr. 2026

Thailand has ordered civil servants to work from home and take the stairs over elevators until the crisis is over. —Jacqueline Munis, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2026

Starmer fired the top Foreign Office civil servant, Olly Robbins, within hours of the revelation by The Guardian last week. —Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1767, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for civil servant

• fervent
• maidservant
• manservant
• observant