[shahr-zhey duh-fair, shahr-zhey; Fr. shar-zhey da-fer] 
[shahr-zheyz duh-fair, shahr-zheyz; Fr. shar-zhey da-fer] . Government. | 1. | Also called chargé d'affaires ad interim. an official placed in charge of diplomatic business during the temporary absence of the ambassador or minister. |
| 2. | an envoy to a state to which a diplomat of higher grade is not sent. |
| char·gé d'af·faires (shär-zhā' də-fâr', dä-) n. pl. char·gés d'affaires (-zhā', -zhāz')
[French : chargé, charged, in charge + de, with, of + affaires, affairs.] |
charge d'affaires
the lowest rank of diplomatic representative recognized under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). A charge d'affaires is usually accredited to the foreign minister of the country in which he operates, rather than to the head of state, and acts in the absence of the head of his mission-usually an ambassador. A charge d'affaires may be appointed head of mission in cases in which only tenuous diplomatic relations exist between his country and the receiving state
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