commodore

noun

com·​mo·​dore ˈkä-mə-ˌdȯr 

1

a

: a captain in the navy in command of a squadron

b

: a commissioned officer in the navy formerly ranking above captain and below rear admiral and having an insignia of one star

2

: the ranking officer commanding a body of merchant ships

3

: the chief officer of a yacht club or boating association

Examples of commodore in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Chidester had been an officer of the boat club, acting as a commodore for the group. —Detroit Free Press, 23 Apr. 2024

And in early December, Capt. James Harney was relieved as commodore of Amphibious Squadron 5, which is based in San Diego. —Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Dec. 2023

As commodore, Hoard gets to share the Queen Mary with visitors, taking them on tours and regaling them with stories of her past, present and future. —Catherine Garcia, The Week, 3 Sep. 2023

Throughout the exercise, a parade of high-ranking Navy officials — including two rear admirals, a Marine Corps general, and a commodore — visited the vessel to turn up the heat on the crew and its captain. —Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 23 Nov. 2015

Word History

Etymology

probably modification of Dutch commandeur commander, from French, from Old French comandeor, from comander to command

First Known Use

1695, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing commodore

• air commodore

Kids Definition

commodore

noun

com·​mo·​dore ˈkäm-ə-ˌdō(ə)r 

-ˌdȯ(ə)r

1

: a naval commissioned officer with a rank just below that of rear admiral

2

: the senior captain of a line of merchant ships