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

Another might be the moment, in 1942, when British special agents and Czech resistance fighters acted in concert to murder Reinhard Heydrich, a brutal Nazi commander and one of the key authors of the Final Solution. —Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2025

Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol’s chief of the El Centro, California, region and commander of ICE operations in Los Angeles and Chicago, is expected to lead the Charlotte effort, which could last several weeks to more than a month. —Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 15 Nov. 2025

But Ukraine has claimed responsibility for assassinating Russian officials in the past, including a commander killed last month in Siberia. —Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 14 Nov. 2025

The mission consists of commander Zhang Lu, 48, who also flew on Shenzhou 15 in 2022, and two spaceflight rookies, Zhang Hongzhang and Wu Fei. —Mike Wall, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025

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