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Glite Dictionary
Home Secretary

Home Secretary

5 4.6
A senior government minister who leads the Home Office and handles security, law and immigration
  • noun
  • Literature
translation icon : Secretario de Estado del Interior
  • The British Home Secretary is responsible for immigration and law enforcement.
  • Lord Home Secretary

And it isn't always just the government or the Home Secretary.

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Examples

  • I know what it is like to work under pressure with the newspapers demanding an arrest in every issue, people shouting at you in the streets, the assistant commissioner breathing heavily and sending for reports every day, and the Home Secretary facing questions in the House of Commons. "Not like this case, you don't," Lambert said bitterly, but he looked slightly mollified.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Computer hacker Gary McKinnon will find out today whether Home Secretary Theresa May will end his 10-year battle against extradition to the United States.

    Blog text (1)

  • I heard you had a private meeting with the Home Secretary this morning.

    Biloxi Blues (1988)

  • - The Home Secretary visited the scene this afternoon and had this to say.

    Aux (2018)

  • The Home Secretary has sent for me; heaven only knows what I can tell him.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Why did the Home Secretary ignore that memo?

  • Yes, that's what I told the Home Secretary on the telephone.

    See How They Run (2022)

  • Mary wrote to Home Secretary William Harcourt and received permission to visit Fletcher in prison.

    Academic text (2018)

  • This call was echoed by the senior government politician, Home Secretary David Blunkett.

    Academic text (2005)

  • British computer hacker Gary McKinnon will not be extradited to the US, Home Secretary Theresa May has announced.

    Blog text (6)

Synonyms

Secretary of State for the Home Department
vsHome Secretary
  • UK
7.9

A senior British minister who leads the Home Office and deals with security, immigration, and law and order

is the shorter common title used instead of the long official name

Surface Forms

Home Secretary singular
Home Secretaries plural

Morphology

Home + secretary

The element 'secretary' signals a senior official and 'home' can extend to 'domestic' or 'internal', so a learner who knows both words could plausibly infer a minister responsible for domestic/internal affairs. However, 'Home Secretary' is a specific UK governmental title with institutional responsibilities (security, law and order, immigration) that are not fully predictable from the parts, so the expression is only partially transparent to B1 learners.

Etymology

Home Secretary comes from two simple words: home meaning the country's 'inside' or 'domestic' matters, and secretary meaning an official who looks after things for others. So the Home Secretary is the government minister who looks after the country's internal affairs like police, security, and immigration.