staff sergeant

noun

1. U.S. Air Force. a noncommissioned officer ranking below a technical sergeant and above an airman first class.
2. U.S. Army. a noncommissioned officer ranking below a sergeant first class and above a sergeant.
3. U.S. Marine Corps. a noncommissioned officer ranking below a gunnery sergeant and above a sergeant.

staff sergeant

noun

1. a noncommissioned officer holding a rank between sergeant and warrant officer and employed on administrative duties
2. 1. (in the Army) a noncommissioned officer who ranks above sergeant and below sergeant first class
   2. (in the Air Force) a noncommissioned officer who ranks above airman first class and below technical sergeant
   3. (in the Marine Corps) a noncommissioned officer who ranks above sergeant and below gunnery sergeant

Word History and Origins

Origin of staff sergeant¹

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

On the morning of March 26, Sergiy Barnich, a 47-year-old staff sergeant in Ukraine’s armed forces, came out of his trench and began to look for enemy mines in the brush.

From Time

The staff sergeant said that when he was in the Givati Brigade in 2007 or so, it was “openly secular.”

From The Daily Beast

On August 18, an IED killed Private First Class Morris Walker and Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen during a reconnaissance mission.

From The Daily Beast

Marine Staff Sergeant Dean Sanchez, in charge of USMC Wounded Warriors living in the Rocky Mountain region, joined me from Denver.

From The Daily Beast

The last Marine, Staff Sergeant Mark Mangio, decamped in March 2009.

From The Daily Beast

She described one particularly difficult kid who was paired with a staff sergeant.

From The Daily Beast

The staff sergeant took the card with his left hand, saluted smartly again with his right, and looked at Dave and Freddy.

From Project Gutenberg

There used to be a tough guy over there,—a staff sergeant, he was—that gave lectures on military morals in a deep bass voice.

From Project Gutenberg

Even without his suggestion I should wish to have you with me as my staff sergeant.

From Project Gutenberg

It was in an enlisted club or staff sergeant's club, something of that nature.

From Project Gutenberg

It was on this day that my nephew, Staff-Sergeant Nickson, was wounded.

From Project Gutenberg