brigadier
Americannoun
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brigadiers
plural
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British Military. a rank between colonel and major general.
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U.S. Army Informal. a brigadier general.
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History/Historical. a noncommissioned rank in the Napoleonic armies.
noun
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an officer of the British Army or Royal Marines who holds a rank junior to a major general but senior to a colonel, usually commanding a brigade
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an equivalent rank in other armed forces
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army short for brigadier general
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history a noncommissioned rank in the armies of Napoleon I
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of brigadier
1670–80; < French: officer commanding a brigade; see brigade, -ier 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“These are some of our best allies, and they had no idea,” said Bacon, who is a retired Air Force brigadier general.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Retired US brigadier general Houston Cantwell, who has 400 hours of combat flight experience, said a pilot's training would likely kick in before he or she parachutes to the ground.
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
As a result, Finerty was demoted to brigadier general.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2025
It was a cause of acute embarrassment for Berlin given that a brigadier general in the Luftwaffe appeared to allow spies into the secure call by dialling in on an insecure line.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2024
Bush learned that he had a new teammate from the army only when Groves, who had been promoted to brigadier general upon taking over the bomb project, showed up at his office on September 17.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
In an unprecedented undertaking by a democratic government, the trial of the juntas directly established the guilt of former presidents, admirals and brigadiers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2023
“It is with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to Josep, the last of our admired brigadiers still alive,” association chairman Almudena Cros said on its website on Tuesday.
From Reuters ● May 25, 2021
Nineteen colonels and brigadiers in their 50s and 60s graduated after several months of study with American and French instructors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2010
Generals, brigadiers and colonels hopped briskly to one side as imperturbable British painters dragged their ladders, pails and paintpots through the busy halls of London's District Office Building.
From Time Magazine Archive
“And were here to save this building,” one of the fire brigadiers said.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
