chocolate soldier

American

noun

a nonfighting soldier; a serviceman not assigned to combat duty.

chocolate soldier British

noun

informal a person who mistakenly believes that he or she is very powerful, important, or impressive

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of chocolate soldier

First recorded in 1895–1900

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.

On the box was a picture of a chocolate soldier.

From Literature

It was a wrapper from the Chocolate Soldier Shop.

From Literature

The girls saw a bench in front of the Chocolate Soldier Shop.

From Literature

Around that time, audiences could also catch Oscar Straus’s “The Chocolate Soldier” and Victor Herbert’s “Naughty Marietta” on TV.

From New York Times

Referring to a popular operetta of the time, suffragists called the league “the Chocolate Soldier brigade.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023