semi-state adjective3 •(Ireland) state-owned but managed independently along commercial linesTAXPAYERS are shelling out more than €2m annually to pay for the salaries of 10 high-profile CEOs employed in commercial semi-state bodies. — 2007 •ceremonial, but somewhat less ornate, formal, or prestigious than would be classed as "state"There now remains the fourth side of the square, which is devoted to the state and semi-state carriages. The semi-state carriages, eleven in number, are chiefly of modern make. — 1896 •The state after the socialist revolution, which is withering away in the process of eliminating class antagonisms.