comrade

noun com·rade \ ˈkäm-ˌrad , -rəd , especially British -ˌrād \

Updated on: 10 Apr 2018

Definition of comrade

1 a : an intimate friend or associate : companion

" … reflecting upon all my comrades that were drowned … "
—Daniel Defoe

b : a fellow soldier

comrades in battle

[from its use as a form of address by communists]

: communist

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comradeliness

play \ˈkäm-ˌrad-lē-nəs\ noun

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comradely

adjective

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comradeship

play \ˈkäm-ˌrad-ˌship\ noun

See comrade defined for English-language learners

See comrade defined for kids

Examples of comrade in a Sentence

He enjoys spending time with his old army comrades.
the boy, and two others who are known to be his comrades, are wanted for questioning by the police

Recent Examples of comrade from the Web

But Chad Kroeger and his faceless comrades have also become a symbol of everything terrible – or mundane, or embarrassing, or indefensible – in this sad, defeated world.

— jeffrey lee puckett, The Courier-Journal, "Matt Bevin brutally dismissed by Kentucky teacher with sign: 'Bevin Listens to Nickelback'," 5 Apr. 2018
The bench goes crazy when one of the Bucks makes a good play, and teammates sprint to help a fallen comrade to his feet.

— gary d'amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "D'Amato: With the regular season winding down, where the Bucks go from here is one big if," 29 Mar. 2018
As played by Emmerich, Stan is not the perfect portrait of American decency in opposition to Philip and Elizabeth Jennings' Soviet comrades.

— esther zuckerman, GQ, "The Americans," 28 Mar. 2018
Members of American Legion Post 91 of Berea and VFW Post 9520 of Brunswick gathered with the family at the Rosewood Grill in Strongsville on March 25 to make sure Dzeiak knew his comrades appreciated his service.

— linda g. kramer, cleveland.com, "Berea honors World War II Purple Heart veteran: Community Voices," 27 Mar. 2018
But there’s no evidence to suggest that — and without it, Skripal’s old comrades might have been expected to leave him alone.

— simon shuster, Time, "The Poisoning of Ex-Spy Sergei Skripal Suggests Russia's Rules Have Changed," 8 Mar. 2018
Completing the lineup is Mbappe's PSG comrade Neymar - the fifth Brazilian in the team.

— SI.com, "Kylian Mbappe Selects His Ultimate Dream Team," 25 Feb. 2018
But the torrents were too fierce; hit by the rocket-bursts of water the kids whirled one way, then the other, dragging down their comrades.

— the washington post, AL.com, "Florida teens fighting for gun control can learn from Birmingham's Children's Crusade," 20 Feb. 2018
The North Korean soldier jumped from the vehicle, his comrades racing behind on foot, firing in vain to stop him.

— matt stiles, latimes.com, "Olympic celebrations of Korean unity belie the state of anxiety on the DMZ, a short drive north," 15 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'comrade.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In Latin, camara or camera denoted a vaulted ceiling or roof. Later, the word simply mean “room, chamber” and was inherited by many European languages with that meaning. In the Spanish, the word became cámara, and a derivative of that was camarada “a group of soldiers quartered in a room” and hence “fellow soldier, companion.” That Spanish word was borrowed into French as camarade and then into Elizabethan English as both camerade and comerade.

Origin and Etymology of comrade

Middle French camarade group sleeping in one room, roommate, companion, from Old Spanish camarada, from cámara room, from Late Latin camera, camara — more at chamber

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1544

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