lieutenant general

noun

: a commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps who ranks above a major general and whose insignia is three stars

Examples of lieutenant general in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The toll includes five lieutenant generals, seven major generals and three former generals. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2026

He ultimately was fired and demoted to lieutenant general upon retirement. — Davis Winkie, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2025

His first costume was a reproduction of the uniform Lafayette would have worn as a French lieutenant general in 1791, which Taylor made himself. — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026

Yermak’s successor, Kyrylo Budanov, a lieutenant general and spymaster who now leads Ukraine’s negotiating team, has been more amenable to compromises, even on the question of territory. — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

lieutenant general

noun

: a military commissioned officer with a rank just below that of general