Charlie

American  

[chahr-lee] / ˈtʃɑr li /

noun

1. a word used in communications to represent the letter C.

2. Military Slang. Also Charley Victor Charlie.

3. a male given name, form of Charles.

4. a female given name.

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charlie ¹ British  

/ ˈtʃɑːlɪ /

noun

1. informal a silly person; fool

2. old-fashioned a girl or woman

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Charlie ² British  

/ ˈtʃɑːlɪ /

noun

1. communications a code word for the letter c

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Charlie ³ British  

/ ˈtʃɑːlɪ /

noun

1. slang military a member of the Vietcong or the Vietcong collectively

   Charlie hit us with rockets

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Charlie ⁴ British  

/ ˈtʃɑːlɪ /

noun

1. slang cocaine

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Etymology

Origin of charlie¹

C20: for sense 1: shortened from Charlie Hunt, rhyming slang for _cunt ; sense 2 is shortened from Charlie Wheeler, rhyming slang for _sheila

Origin of Charlie³

shortened from Victor Charlie, communications code for VC, abbreviation of Vietcong

Example Sentences

Turning Point USA, founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has built a network of thousands of student chapters nationwide.

From Salon • Apr. 18, 2026

Sierra Canyon 9, St. Francis 2: Brayden Goldstein homered, Cody Gallegos had three hits and Charlie Cummings had a two-run single.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

They want a drummer named Charlie Watts to join them, but Watts is already playing with three other bands while working at an advertising agency.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Savouri notes that in addition to these policy-led distortions, the ONS is simply under-resourced, something that was highlighted ten years ago by Bank of England Professor Charlie Bean.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

At last Charlie seemed to stir at the salary of seventeen dollars a week for the threshing season, and keep.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck