retired colonel
Ex-military senior rank
A retired colonel is a former military officer who held the rank of colonel before leaving active service.
The phrase often carries connotations beyond its literal meaning—suggesting someone with rigid opinions, authoritative bearing, or a tendency to reminisce about military days: The retired colonel next door still rises at 0500.
In fiction and conversation, the type appears as a stock character: blustery, conservative, and fond of protocol.
- veteranExperienced former soldier
- old soldierExperienced former military person
- militaryArmed forces collectively
- military serviceDuty in armed forces
- armyOrganized land-based military
officer · silver eagles · pension · decorated · medals · dress uniform · uniform · brass · commander · command post · service · ranks · honorable · discharge · base · battalion · infantry · strategy
- Former Rolesex-president, ex-wife, ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend
retired colonelraw recruit
Untrained new soldier
buck private · private first class · cadet · enlisted soldier · trainee
retired colonelcivilian
Non-military person
draft dodger · conscientious objector · pacifist · antimilitarist · anti-war activist
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