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
Details about what information the sergeant is accused of misusing have not been released.
—
Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Feb. 2025
Wahlberg played Frank's eldest surviving son; Will Estes played Jamie Reagan, his youngest who joined the NYPD as a sergeant; and Bridget Moynahan played assistant DA Erin Reagan.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 18 Feb. 2025
Shapiro served with the New York Police Department for a decade, retiring as a sergeant in 2013.
—Lilith Foster-Collins, Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2025
The sergeant had been at his home in Arcadia, east of Altadena, a week earlier, when the winds suddenly picked up and a fire raging in the Angeles National Forest began descending down a hillside toward his house.
—Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sergeant
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Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Feb. 2025
Wahlberg played Frank's eldest surviving son; Will Estes played Jamie Reagan, his youngest who joined the NYPD as a sergeant; and Bridget Moynahan played assistant DA Erin Reagan.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 18 Feb. 2025
Shapiro served with the New York Police Department for a decade, retiring as a sergeant in 2013.
—Lilith Foster-Collins, Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2025
The sergeant had been at his home in Arcadia, east of Altadena, a week earlier, when the winds suddenly picked up and a fire raging in the Angeles National Forest began descending down a hillside toward his house.
—Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 17 Jan. 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 12 Mar. 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"
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