commander

noun

com·​mand·​er kə-ˈman-dər 

1

: one in an official position of command or control: such as

a

: commanding officer

b

: the presiding officer of a society or organization

2

: a commissioned officer in the navy or coast guard ranking above a lieutenant commander and below a captain

commandership

kə-ˈman-dər-ˌship 

noun

Synonyms of commander

• commandant

Examples of commander in a Sentence

a surrender of the fort by the commander without a single shot having been fired

the intrepid commander of the HMS Surprise

Recent Examples on the Web

Fram2 is commanded Chun Wang of Malta, who is joined by vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, pilot Rabea Rogge of Germany, and Australian medical officer and mission specialist Eric Phillips. —Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 13 Jan. 2026

Israel also killed senior Iranian commanders and struck symbolic regime targets. —Karl Vick, Time, 13 Jan. 2026

Robert Stiles, the deputy sector commander of Coast Guard Sector San Juan who coordinated the search and rescue mission, hailed the outcome in a press statement. —David Chiu, PEOPLE, 13 Jan. 2026

Rodríguez is a hard-line leftist with deeply anti-American views learned from her father, a Marxist guerrilla commander who died at the hands of Venezuelan security forces. —Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing commander

• commander in chief
• lieutenant commander
• wing commander

Rhymes for commander

• bystander
• expander
• highlander
• leander
• meander
• philander
• brander
• candor
• dander
• gander
• grander
• hander

Kids Definition

commander

noun

com·​mand·​er kə-ˈman-dər 

1

: one in official command especially of a military force or base

2

: a naval commissioned officer with a rank just below that of captain

commandership

-ˌship 

noun