MEANING
1. Relating to diplomacy or the management of relations between nations or governments.
2. Careful not to offend or provoke others, especially when handling disagreement or a sensitive subject.
Use it for
Use for foreign-affairs work or a government’s relations with other nations.Describe a person, role, mission, or negotiation concerned with international relations.
Words that belong together
- diplomatic mission
- diplomatic relations
- diplomatic immunity
- diplomatic answer
- diplomatic way
- diplomatic phrasing
On the page
The diplomatic envoy carried the sealed treaty through the checkpoint.
She gave a diplomatic answer that neither confirmed nor denied the accusation.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- diplomatic
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Usage notes
This sense concerns relations among governments; “diplomatic immunity” is a specific legal protection, not a general synonym for tact. Sense 2: This figurative sense describes careful interpersonal language, not professional work between governments.
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