Meanings
nouncivil servant (plural civil servants)
plural civil servants
- A person employed in the civil service; a government employee.
Civil servants in the MoT gave a fresh note of caution to the Minister concerning BR's estimates, because those for electrification from Euston had gone from a budgeted £75m to an actual £160m.
2020 April 8, David Clough, “How the West Coast wiring war was won”, in Rail, page 611 more example
Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.
2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848Synonyms: civilian, public servant
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person employed in the civil service; a government employee.
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Also see
Translations
Afrikaans amptenaar
- amptenaargovernment employee
Arabic مُوَظَّف, مُوَظَّفَة
- مُوَظَّف (muwaẓẓaf)government employee
- مُوَظَّفَة (muwaẓẓafa)government employee
- مُوَظَّف حُكُومِيّ (muwaẓẓaf ḥukūmiyy)government employee
- مُوَظَّف مَدَنِيّ (muwaẓẓaf madaniyy)government employee
Bulgarian държа́вен служи́тел
- държа́вен служи́тел (dăržáven služítel)government employee
Catalan funcionari, funcionària
- funcionarigovernment employee
- funcionàriagovernment employee
- servidor públicgovernment employee
Chinese Mandarin 公務員 /公务员
- 公務員 /公务员 (gōngwùyuán)government employee
Czech státní úředník
- státní úředníkgovernment employee
Danish embedsmand, tjenestemand
- embedsmandgovernment employee
- tjenestemandgovernment employee
Dutch ambtenaar, ambtenares
- ambtenaargovernment employee
- ambtenaresgovernment employee
- landsdienaargovernment employee
Estonian riigiametnik
- riigiametnikgovernment employee
Finnish virkamies
- virkamiesgovernment employee
French fonctionnaire
- fonctionnairegovernment employee
German Beamter, Beamtin
- Beamtergovernment employee
- Beamtingovernment employee
- Funktionärgovernment employee
- Funktionäringovernment employee
Greek δημόσιος υπάλληλος
- δημόσιος υπάλληλος (dimósios ypállilos)government employee
Hebrew עובד מדינה, עובד ציבור
- עובד מדינה (ovéd m'diná)government employee
- עובד ציבור (ovéd tsibúr)government employee
Hungarian köztisztviselő, közhivatalnok
- köztisztviselőgovernment employee
- közhivatalnokgovernment employee
- közalkalmazottgovernment employee
- közszolgagovernment employee
Icelandic opinber starfsmaður, ríkisstarfsmaður
- opinber starfsmaðurgovernment employee
- ríkisstarfsmaðurgovernment employee
Indonesian pegawai negeri, amtenar
- pegawai negerigovernment employee
- amtenargovernment employee
- pamong prajagovernment employee
Italian funzionario
- funzionariogovernment employee
Japanese 公務員
- 公務員 (kōmuin)government employee
Korean 공무원
- 공무원 (gongmuwon)government employee
Latvian valsts ierēdnis
- valsts ierēdnisgovernment employee
Lithuanian valdininkas, pareigūnas
- valdininkasgovernment employee
- pareigūnasgovernment employee
Malay penjawat awam
- penjawat awamgovernment employee
Norwegian Bokmål embetsmann
- embetsmanngovernment employee
Polish urzędnik państwowy, urzędniczka państwowa
- urzędnik państwowygovernment employee
- urzędniczka państwowagovernment employee
Portuguese funcionário, funcionário público
- funcionáriogovernment employee
- funcionário públicogovernment employee
- servidor públicogovernment employee
Romanian funcționar, funcționar public
- funcționargovernment employee
- funcționar publicgovernment employee
Russian госуда́рственный слу́жащий, госслу́жащий
- госуда́рственный слу́жащий (gosudárstvennyj slúžaščij)government employee
- госслу́жащий (gosslúžaščij)government employee
- чино́вник (činóvnik)government employee
- функционе́р (funkcionér)government employee
Slovak verejný činiteľ, štátny zamestnanec
- verejný činiteľgovernment employee
- štátny zamestnanecgovernment employee
- štátny úradníkgovernment employee
Spanish funcionario
- funcionariogovernment employee
Swahili mtumishi wa umma
- mtumishi wa ummagovernment employee
Swedish ämbetsman, tjänsteman
- ämbetsmangovernment employee
- tjänstemangovernment employee
Tagalog lingkod-bayan
- lingkod-bayangovernment employee
Thai ข้าราชการ
- ข้าราชการ (kâa-râat-chá-gaan)government employee
Turkish memur, devlet memuru
- memurgovernment employee
- devlet memurugovernment employee
Ukrainian держа́вний службо́вець, держслужбо́вець
- держа́вний службо́вець (deržávnyj službóvecʹ)government employee
- держслужбо́вець (deržslužbóvecʹ)government employee
Vietnamese công chức, viên chức
- công chứcgovernment employee
- viên chứcgovernment employee
Welsh gwas sifil
- gwas sifilgovernment employee
Cite this entry
APA
civil servant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20servant
MLA
“civil servant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20servant. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “civil servant,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20servant.
Source: civil servant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.