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

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

Story was also posthumously promoted from private first class to corporal and awarded a Purple Heart.

From Seattle Times • May 29, 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

I supervised twenty-one Okinawans in a machine shop and rose in rank from private first class to corporal.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson