private first class

American  

noun

1. a soldier ranking above a private and below a corporal or specialist fourth class in the U.S. Army, and above a private and below a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps.

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Etymology

Origin of private first class

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

He never rose beyond private first class during a 1950s stint in the military, but he projected so much machismo that he seemed born to wear an officer’s uniform.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

As a private first class serving in the 603rd Camouflage Engineer Battalion, he created fake shoulder patches that his fellow soldiers wore on their uniforms to impersonate different elements of an infantry division.

From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2024

After high school, he went to Parris Island, where — because he was an Eagle Scout — he started at the rank of private first class.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 2, 2023

The sourness that was a first lieutenant on Monday had been demoted to private first class on Tuesday — and confined to barracks by those two-star peppers, so impressed with their power.

From Washington Post • Mar. 15, 2023

A private first class named Charlotte Godwin hurried outdoors to the van and climbed inside, and took off all her clothes, and put on a surgical scrub suit, socks, sneakers, and a hair cap.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston