- a military officer holding commissioned rank immediately junior to a captain
- a naval officer holding commissioned rank immediately junior to a lieutenant commander
- US an officer in a police or fire department ranking immediately junior to a captain
- a person who holds an office in subordination to or in place of a superior
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
lieu•ten•ant /luˈtɛnənt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Militarya rank in the armed forces above a sergeant and below a captain.
- Militarya commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard ranking above a lieutenant junior grade.
- an aide;
assistant:If she can't attend, she will send her lieutenant.
lieu•ten•ant
(lo̅o̅ ten′ənt; in Brit. use, except in the navy, lef ten′ənt),USA pronunciation n.
- Military
- See first lieutenant.
- See second lieutenant.
- Military[U.S. Navy.]a commissioned officer ranking between lieutenant junior grade and lieutenant commander.
- a person who holds an office, civil or military, in subordination to a superior for whom he or she acts:If he can't attend, he will send his lieutenant.
- Middle French, noun, nominal use of adjective, adjectival phrase lieu tenant place-holding. See locum tenens, lieu, tenant
- Middle English 1325–75
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
lieutenant /lɛfˈtɛnənt; US: luːˈtɛnənt/ n
'lieutenant' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
captain
- colonel
- commander
- commissioned officer
- field officer
- FL
- flight lieutenant
- flying officer
- Fowles
- Franklin
- French
- general
- Government House
- Irons
- lieutenant colonel
- lieutenant commander
- lieutenant general
- lieutenant governor
- LL
- Lord Lieutenant
- Lt
- major
- major general
- Ormonde
- platoon
- second lieutenant
- squadron leader
- Streep
- Tynwald
- above
- air marshal
- betrothed
- caporegime
- chicken colonel
- chief warrant officer
- command
- commanding officer
- company officer
- Davis
- Dinwiddie
- ensign
- Ewell
- field grade
- first lieutenant
- haul
- jemadar
- Lieut.
- Lieut. Col.
- Lieut. Comdr.
- lieutenancy