lieutenants

noun

plural of lieutenant
as in assistants
a person who helps a more skilled person the drug lord has a pair of brutal lieutenants who do most of his dirty work for him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of lieutenants Role in the Castellammarese War When the Castellammarese War broke out in 1930 between Maranzano and rival crime boss Giuseppe (Joe) Masseria, Bonanno emerged as one of Maranzano’s leading lieutenants. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Aug. 2026 And [showrunners] Ned Martel and Charlie Carver were our lieutenants on the crowd who did a wonderful job. — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026 Hampton and Adofo-Mensah have been among Marathe’s top lieutenants in the past, with Adofo-Mensah working under Marathe from 2013 to 2019 and Hampton joining the organization as an intern in 2003. — Matt Barrows, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026 Kealty was named a Sharks assistant general manager last week, joining Tom Holy and Joe Will as GM Grier’s top lieutenants. — Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 21 July 2026 From what my lieutenants tell me, it’s being well-received, the numbers are good. — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026 Back at the tail end of the 1960s, founder Bruce McLaren and his lieutenants conceived and built the M6GT in just 11 weeks. — Jason Barlow, Robb Report, 13 July 2026 UConn men’s hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh lost one of his top lieutenants, Nick Peruzzi, to Wisconsin this week. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2026 But the series falls under the purview of one of Friedlander’s top lieutenants, Brett Fetter, Head of Worldbuilding & Genre Series, who didn’t start at Amazon until February. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 2 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lieutenants
  1. assistants
  2. aides
  3. apprentices
  4. deputies
  5. aids
  6. sidekicks
Noun
  • Other jobs on this list include occupations that are largely administrative and deal with handling data or customer service, such as office clerks, secretaries, administrative assistants, customer service reps and tellers.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Hammock and Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald had worked together as assistants with the Baltimore Ravens.
    — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of assistants
Noun
  • For Maryland nurses, aides, teachers and service workers, that can mean the difference between investing a small amount from each paycheck and staying locked out of wealth-building opportunities entirely.
    — Michael Faulkender, Baltimore Sun, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Now two of those five aides are gone from the West Wing, turnover that’s reshaping the management of a deeply personal presidency.
    — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of aides
Noun
  • His opportunity came through the new DC Tech Hub, where Accenture welcomed a cohort of 50 cybersecurity apprentices.
    — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 12 Aug. 2026
  • With the money, the museum is able to sustain, among other things, an internship program for teaching apprentices and a speaker series.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of apprentices
Noun
  • In his request for additional funding, Soptic said not funding more sheriff’s office personnel at this point could present serious safety concerns, including for inmates and deputies at the county’s jail.
    — Sofi Zeman August 31, Kansas City Star, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Gallegos was arrested by Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies in December 2020.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of deputies
Noun
  • The three-seat cabin, lack of driver aids and extreme low weight are all fundamental parts of that formula.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Google's Gemini now enhances Classroom with personalized study aids and offers copyable notebooks.
    — Dan Fitzpatrick, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of aids
Noun
  • After revealing the start of production on a new Descendants film featuring the children of some of Disney’s most beloved sidekicks, Disney Channel has added some additional cast members to the upcoming project.
    — Katie Campione, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The critical brain is still zonked, and along with it, its pesky sidekicks, self-doubt and anxiety.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
Definition of sidekicks

Browse Nearby Words

lieutenant
lieutenants
life
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lieutenants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lieutenants. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All