Meanings
nouncommander-in-chief (plural commanders-in-chief, abbreviation C-in-C)
plural commanders-in-chief · abbreviation C-in-C · alternative commander in chief
- Supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country.
For, [Scipio] being Commaunder in chiefe, ouer an Armie; (Latin original: praeesse autem suo nomine exercitui)
c. 1600, Clement Edmundes, Observations vpon Caesars Comentaries, page 1751 more example
President Biden received an ugly welcome in the Land of 10,000 Lakes on Tuesday when his motorcade passed dozens of protesters who held vulgar signs dissing the commander-in-chief.
2021 November 30, Steven Nelson, “Biden haters greet president in Minnesota with ‘FJB’ and ‘You Suck’ signs”, in New York Post, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2022
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe officer who holds the supreme command
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic رَئِيس أَرْكَان
- رَئِيس أَرْكَان (raʔīs ʔarkān)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Bengali সর্বাধিনায়ক
- সর্বাধিনায়ক (śorbadhinaẏok)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Bulgarian главнокома́ндващ
- главнокома́ндващ (glavnokomándvašt)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Catalan comandant en cap
- comandant en capsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Chinese Mandarin 總司令 /总司令
- 總司令 /总司令 (zǒngsīlìng)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Czech vrchní velitel
- vrchní velitelsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Danish øverstkommanderende, øverstbefalende
- øverstkommanderendesupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- øverstbefalendesupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Dutch opperbevelhebber
- opperbevelhebbersupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Esperanto ĉefgeneralo
- ĉefgeneralosupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Estonian ülemjuhataja
- ülemjuhatajasupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Finnish puolustusvoimain ylipäällikkö
- puolustusvoimain ylipäällikkösupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
French commandant en chef
- commandant en chefsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
German Oberbefehlshaber, OB
- Oberbefehlshabersupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- OBsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Greek αρχιστράτηγος
- αρχιστράτηγος (archistrátigos)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Hebrew רָמַטְכָּ״ל \ רמטכ״ל, שַׂר צָבָא
- רָמַטְכָּ״ל \ רמטכ״ל (ramatkál)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- שַׂר צָבָא (sar tsavá)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Hindi प्रधान सेनापति, सेनापति
- प्रधान सेनापति (pradhān senāpati)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- सेनापति (senāpati)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- कमांडर इन चीफ़ (kamāṇḍar in cīf)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Hungarian főparancsnok
- főparancsnoksupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Icelandic yfirforingi
- yfirforingisupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Indonesian panglima tertinggi
- panglima tertinggisupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Irish ardcheannasaí
- ardcheannasaísupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Italian comandante in capo, comandate supremo
- comandante in caposupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- comandate supremosupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Japanese 最高指揮官, 総司令官
- 最高指揮官 (saikō shikikan)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- 総司令官 (sōshireikan)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Korean 총사령관
- 총사령관 (chongsaryeonggwan)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Latvian virspavēlnieks
- virspavēlniekssupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Lithuanian vyriausiasis vadas
- vyriausiasis vadassupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Malay ketua turus, panglima tertinggi
- ketua turussupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- panglima tertinggisupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- pemerintah tertinggisupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Norwegian Bokmål øverstkommanderende
- øverstkommanderendesupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Polish naczelny wódz, głównodowodzący
- naczelny wódzsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- głównodowodzącysupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Portuguese comandante em chefe
- comandante em chefesupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Romanian comandant suprem, comandant-șef
- comandant supremsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- comandant-șefsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Russian главнокома́ндующий
- главнокома́ндующий (glavnokomándujuščij)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Slovak vrchný veliteľ
- vrchný veliteľsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Spanish comandante en jefe
- comandante en jefesupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Swedish överbefälhavare
- överbefälhavaresupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Thai ผู้บัญชาการทหาร
- ผู้บัญชาการทหาร (pûu-ban-chaa-gaan-tá-hǎan)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Turkish başkomutan, serasker
- başkomutansupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
- seraskersupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Ukrainian головнокома́ндувач
- головнокома́ндувач (holovnokománduvač)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Urdu کَمانْڈَر اِن چِیف
- کَمانْڈَر اِن چِیف (kamānḍar in cīf)supreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Vietnamese tổng tư lệnh
- tổng tư lệnhsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Welsh pencadlywydd
- pencadlywyddsupreme commander of the armed forces of an entire country
Cite this entry
APA
commander-in-chief. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commander-in-chief
MLA
“commander-in-chief.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commander-in-chief. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “commander-in-chief,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commander-in-chief.
Source: commander-in-chief on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.