enlisted man
16
4.9
- noun
- /ɪnˈlɪstɪd mæn/
- Specialized
:
soldado
- Can you imagine an old enlisted man like me raising a boy to be an officer?
- officers and enlisted men
- enlisted men and women
Examples
-
The first man in our unit to receive a Purple Heart was an enlisted man.
Fiction book (1994) -
I knew that my father had been an enlisted man.
Fiction book (2000) -
Shoes, are you an enlisted man in the United States Air Force? - Yeah.
-
Or what about some of the younger enlisted men?
-
Probably about ten or twenty percent of them were officers; the rest were enlisted men.
Academic text (1990) -
"The usage remains in the military, where officers are addressed as 'sir,' while enlisted men are not.
Academic text (2003) -
Both officers and enlisted men were similarly motivated by duty.
Academic text (2001) -
The enlisted men are assigned to Barracks 12.
-
He treated the enlisted men as peers, addressing them as gentlemen.
-
In his 26 years, he rose from enlisted man to lieutenant colonel.
Synonyms
∞
1.1
A person who serves in an army and fights for their country
59
2.8
A person who works on a ship as a crew member below the officers
1
4.9
A member of the armed forces who is not an officer
1
8.6
A person who serves or served in the armed forces but is not an officer
1
7.7
A sailor in the navy who is not an officer
Antonyms
How Senior
- Specialized
3
3.6
- Specialized
2
6.2
- Specialized
16
4.9
149
3.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositional: 'enlist' means to join the military and 'man' is an adult male, so an 'enlisted man' is readily interpreted as a man who has joined the armed forces. Although the specific nuance that it contrasts with commissioned officers may require some background knowledge of military ranks, the core meaning is transparent and predictable for a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
Enlisted man comes from someone who has enlisted, that is, signed up to join the armed forces. The word man here means a regular soldier rather than an 'officer', so the phrase refers to military members who are not officers.