fighter pilot

American

[fahy-ter pahy-luht] / ˈfaɪ tər ˌpaɪ lət /

noun

Military.

a pilot trained to fly aircraft classified as fighters and to engage in aerial combat.

The last surviving member of this celebrated squadron of fighter pilots has died, at age 92.

Etymology

Origin of fighter pilot

First recorded in 1935–40

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.

Air Force colonel with more than 27 years of experience as an instructor pilot, fighter pilot, and test pilot.

From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026

Did he share a fake video of himself as a fighter pilot dumping human waste on No Kings protesters?

From Salon • May 24, 2026

Tom Vo was born in Vietnam, served as a fighter pilot for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and moved to Southern California as a refugee after the Vietnam War.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Jeremy Hansen is a former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and physicist who joined the Canadian Space Agency in 2009.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

The Luftwaffe night fighter pilot Josef Kociok himself was killed in air combat eight weeks later.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

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