Noun
minister without portfolio (plural ministers without portfolio or ministers without portfolios)
(government) A member of a government having the rank of cabinet minister, but not assigned to oversee a particular government department or other permanent area of responsibility.
Hypernyms: see Thesaurus:government minister
First, I was Bavarian State Minister of Justice, and after the ministries of justice in the various states were dissolved I became Reich Minister without portfolio. Hans Frank
He has embarrassed the government. By continuing as minister without portfolio he has earned himself a price for silence. Arun Jaitley
Finally, Mikhail Abyzov, who was a minister without portfolio in the previous government and the head of the Open Government Commission, is not included in the new government. Source: Internet
The parti philosophique was supported by the Marquise de Pompadour, who acted as a sort of minister without portfolio from the time she became royal mistress in 1745 until her death in 1764. Source: Internet
Rise to power Shortly after returning to Taiwan, Lee joined the KMT in 1971 and was made a cabinet minister without portfolio responsible for agriculture. Source: Internet
Within weeks of his entry to parliament, he was made a minister without portfolio in a new minority Nationalist State government led by Premier William McPherson. Source: Internet