supreme commander

American

noun

the military officer commanding all allied forces in a theater of war.

supreme commander British

noun

the military officer in overall command of all forces in one theatre of operations

"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 supreme commander

First recorded in 1940–45

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.

Another soldier happened to be a fan of Mauldin’s work: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe—Patton’s boss.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

In Nazi Germany, for instance, soldiers took a “holy oath” of “unconditional obedience to the Leader of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces.”

From Slate • Nov. 21, 2025

Akhundzada became the supreme commander of the Taliban in 2016, and is now leader of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

From BBC • Jan. 23, 2025

Zelenskiy was also due to meet the speaker of Sweden's parliament the Riksdag, the supreme commander of the Swedish armed forces, and the leaders of Sweden's main political parties, according to a Swedish government statement.

From Reuters • Aug. 19, 2023

The supreme commander appeared so frail that Tyrion was afraid laughing might kill him.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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