brigadier
Americannoun
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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:
Army brigadier general who held senior roles in the Defense and State Departments under previous administrations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
Meanwhile, Democrats in the district hoped to flip the seat after six years of Greene's representation by electing Harris, a retired brigadier general and local farmer.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
"The French nation posthumously promotes Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general," the law reads.
From Barron's ● Nov. 18, 2025
As a result, Finerty was demoted to brigadier general.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2025
I said nothing to the brigadier, for I knew the decision had not been his.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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
And one who put up $10,000 to help repatriate Lincoln brigadiers was Financier Bernard Mannes Baruch.
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.
