brigadier
Americannoun
-
British Military. a rank between colonel and major general.
-
U.S. Army Informal. a brigadier general.
-
History/Historical. a noncommissioned rank in the Napoleonic armies.
noun
-
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
-
an equivalent rank in other armed forces
-
army short for brigadier general
-
history a noncommissioned rank in the armies of Napoleon I
Other Word Forms
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.
"Unfortunately, the brigade commander, Brigadier General O.O. Braimah, lost his life," Kaga local government chairman, Zannah Lawan Ajimi told AFP on the phone.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
In a separate statement Sunday, military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the expansion of the ground operation would begin within the coming week.
From Barron's • Mar. 22, 2026
Brigadier Lanckbeen served with the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment based in Tarbes, and was deployed as part of Operation Sentinelle, a long-running domestic security operation.
From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026
Brigadier Siachitema, a lawyer representing victims of the mine spill, said company officials were “very inhumane.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 28, 2025
To Louis Lépine, to Georges Bénédite, to Brigadier Paupardin, to the president of France himself, these stories were a daily reminder of their failures.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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.
