commanding officer

noun

: an officer in command

especially : an officer in the armed forces in command of an organization or installation

Synonyms of commanding officer

• commander
• commandant

Examples of commanding officer in a Sentence

He reported the incident to his commanding officer.

reported directly to the fort's commanding officer

Recent Examples on the Web

The lower ranks might appreciate the freedom and adaptability of this arrangement, but their commanding officers in Kyiv do not. — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026

Last Thursday, the Navy’s top spokesman, Rear Admiral John Robinson, released a policy that mandated the sea service remove all public-facing information about its commanding officers. — ABC News, 23 July 2026

Standard Starfleet protocol would usually dictate that the Enterprise intervene to prevent the Dol'Drm being destroyed by stolen Federation technology, but its commanding officer sees the bigger picture. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 23 July 2026

Steve Yargosz, the commanding officer at Great Lakes, found a way to partner with the city of North Chicago and Lake County to remove the houses and deal with potential contamination of the land. — Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1720, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

commanding officer

noun

: an officer having charge of a military or naval unit, organization, or base