1(in the UK) the head of a major government department.
（英国）国务大臣
the Secretary of State for Defence
Example sentencesExamples
Copies are also being sent to Bexley Council and the Secretary of State for Transport.
The Claimant in this claim for judicial review is the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
He was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security in May 1997.
It is the Secretary of State's policy that the power to sanction should not be exercised too widely.
He wants the county council to call on the Secretary of State for Health, John Reid, to inject more cash into NHS services in Surrey.
2(in the US) the head of the State Department, responsible for foreign affairs.
（美国）国务卿
Example sentencesExamples
Official results will be announced as soon as the Secretary of State provides a final list.
Henry Kissinger ran foreign policy under President Nixon, not Secretary of State Rogers.
Most recently, he was the Deputy Secretary of State in 1993 under President Clinton.
Then U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright visited Pyongyang in response to Cho's trip to Washington.
That includes his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who has been presented as a restraining influence on Bush.
3(in Canada) a government minister responsible for a specific area within a department.
（加拿大）国务秘书
Example sentencesExamples
That position has been verified by statements in the House of Commons by Secretary of State for External Affairs Joe Clark.
Synonyms
member of the government, political leader, cabinet minister, secretary of state, secretary, undersecretary, department head, privy counsellor, politician