rear admiral
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of rear admiral
First recorded in 1580–90
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.
“This is a militarily manageable effort,” said Mark Montgomery, a retired Navy rear admiral and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
Navy rear admiral, estimated it could take three to four weeks from the start of Iran’s retaliatory attacks on March 1 to reduce the risk of transiting the strait to manageable levels.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
When Robert Duvall was floundering around in college, his father, a career Navy man who retired with the rank of rear admiral, told him to shape up — and start acting.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026
Navy’s senior officers, is one notch below rear admiral, the lowest-ranking flag officer.
From Slate • Jan. 13, 2026
A Japanese rear admiral, Masafumi Arima, was the first kamikaze pilot.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
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.
