warrant officer

noun

1

: an officer in the armed forces holding rank by virtue of a warrant and ranking above a noncommissioned officer and below a commissioned officer

2

: a commissioned officer ranking below an ensign in the navy or coast guard and below a second lieutenant in the marine corps

Examples of warrant officer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Officials said the service may later open the 49B pathway to warrant officers. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Jan. 2026

Others follow a third model, called the warrant officer model, which gives local law enforcement the ability to execute a federal immigration warrant. —Julia Ingram, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2025

That’s resulted in a spike in junior warrant officers, who now make up double the share of Army pilots compared to 2016. —Jeremy Bogaisky, Forbes, 4 Feb. 2025

Military and other government helicopters fly this route almost daily, according to a senior Army pilot and warrant officer. —Brie Stimson, Fox News, 1 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1693, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

warrant officer

noun

: a military or naval officer with any of the ranks between those of commissioned officers and those of noncommissioned officers

especially : a warrant officer of lowest rank