rear admiral

noun

: a commissioned officer in the navy or coast guard having either of two ranks:
a
: one who ranks above a captain

called also rear admiral (lower half)

b
: one who ranks above a rear admiral (lower half) and below a vice admiral

called also rear admiral (upper half)

Examples of rear admiral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
When Robert Duvall was floundering around in college, his father, a career Navy man who retired with the rank of rear admiral, told him to shape up — and start acting. Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2026 Born in San Diego in 1931, Robert Duvall was the child of a Navy rear admiral and a mother who had put her own acting ambitions aside to raise a family. Chris Nashawaty, Vanity Fair, 16 Feb. 2026 William Baumgartner, a retired Coast Guard rear admiral and former chief counsel to the service, said the strikes in the Caribbean will likely have no major effect on the flow of fentanyl into the United States. Gordon Lubold, NBC news, 21 Nov. 2025 Costly gathering of top brass On just a week's notice, Hegseth mandated all senior commanders at the rank of brigadier general or rear admiral lower half and above to report to the Virginia base around 40 miles south of Washington, DC. Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 30 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rear admiral

Word History

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rear admiral was in 1589

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Cite this Entry

“Rear admiral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rear%20admiral. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.

Kids Definition

rear admiral

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

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