comrade

Pluralcomrades

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A companion or associate, especially a fellow soldier or someone who shares difficult or dangerous experiences.

   The two explorers had been comrades on three expeditions to the Arctic.

   In the theater company she found a comrade who shared her love of old films.

   UsageOften comrades in arms, fallen comrades.

   Similarcompanion, friend, partner, colleague

   Note

   Tennyson uses it for the friend he mourns in In Memoriam (1850): the comrade of my choice, … the human-hearted man I loved. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Tennyson wrote In Memoriam to mourn his friend. en.wikipedia.org
   • In Memoriam was first published in 1850. en.wikisource.org
2. 2
   political allynouncountable

   A fellow socialist, communist, or other person with the same political leanings.

   She broke with her former comrades over the party's support for the war.

   As a young activist, he treated every striker on the picket line as a comrade.

   UsageUsed in direct address: Hello, comrade.

   Similarally

   Note

   Within the left the word claims a bond of shared cause rather than of friendship or blood, and it works in direct address: Hello, comrade. Former comrades are the ones a person has broken with politically, and placed before a name the word becomes the official title.

3. 3
   titlenoun

   A title showing no rank, used before a name in a communist or socialist state, or rarely an Islamist one, much as Mr., Mrs., or Ms. is used elsewhere.

   The newspaper praised Comrade Novak for exceeding the harvest quota.

   Under the new rules, clerks addressed even the minister as Comrade Chen.

   UsageCapitalized, before a surname or full name: Comrade Chen.

   Note

   Its point was equality, one form of address for every citizen whatever their rank, sex or marriage, so that even a minister could be addressed as Comrade like anyone else. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The title expressed an egalitarian ideal, replacing forms of address that distinguished social standing, sex or marital status. en.wikipedia.org
   • Comrade served as a general form of address during the Soviet era. en.wikipedia.org
   • Ministers could also be addressed as Comrade. en.wikipedia.org

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