1
2
obsolete
: an officer who enforces the judgments of a court or the commands of one in authority
3
: a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army and marine corps above a corporal and below a staff sergeant
broadly
: noncommissioned officer
4
: an officer in a police force ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant and in England just below inspector
Examples of sergeant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The city of Pflugerville released a report on Wednesday detailing an interaction on April 23 where, in front of witnesses in a sergeant’s office, O’Malley pulled out his Staccato 2011 handgun, pointed it at Lt. Michael DeLaRosa’s legs and joked about shooting him in the foot.
—
Dante Motley, Austin American Statesman, 31 July 2025
District sergeant watched from a squad car about 100 yards away.
—Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 29 July 2025
The sergeant then got a mysterious call, and the dialogue took a turn.
O’Connor was handcuffed and taken to the 17th Precinct where she was placed in a holding cell for two hours.
—Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 16 July 2025
The department has lost more than 260 full-time equivalent officer and sergeant positions over the past nine months.
—Mario Koran, jsonline.com, 12 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sergeant
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.
Dante Motley, Austin American Statesman, 31 July 2025
District sergeant watched from a squad car about 100 yards away.
—Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 29 July 2025
The sergeant then got a mysterious call, and the dialogue took a turn.
O’Connor was handcuffed and taken to the 17th Precinct where she was placed in a holding cell for two hours.
—Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 16 July 2025
The department has lost more than 260 full-time equivalent officer and sergeant positions over the past nine months.
—Mario Koran, jsonline.com, 12 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sergeant
Cite this Entry
“Sergeant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sergeant. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sergeant
noun
ser·geant
ˈsär-jənt 
1
: a military noncommissioned officer with any of the ranks above corporal in the army or the marines or above airman first class in the air force
especially
: an enlisted person with the rank just below that of staff sergeant
2
: a police officer ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant
Etymology
Middle English sergeant "sergeant, attendant, servant," from early French sergent, serjant (same meaning), from Latin servient-, serviens, a form of the verb servire "to serve"
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share