service member

noun

variants or less commonly servicemember

ˈsər-vəs-ˌmem-bər 

plural service members also servicemembers

: a person who is a member of the armed forces

Once Federal Judge Martin Barash administered the oath of allegiance and spoke about their new responsibilities and privileges, he singled out each service member by name (the only new citizens offered this recognition), and the crowd responded with standing ovations.

—Smithsonian

For three-quarters of a century, East Helena has proudly honored servicemembers with a monument in the heart of town. And now community leaders are looking for names of area veterans as they rebuild the monument with a new design.

—Tom Kuglin

Examples of service member in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hegseth and Vance both served as low-ranking service members in Iraq at around the same time. —Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026

The overnight attacks followed a prisoner swap Friday, in which Russia and Ukraine exchanged 193 service members. —Elise Morton, Arkansas Online, 26 Apr. 2026

But the war has also shown that missile defenses are not impenetrable, with at least seven US service members killed by hostile action. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 25 Apr. 2026

The overnight attacks followed a prisoner swap Friday, in which Russia and Ukraine exchanged 193 service members. —ABC News, 25 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for service member

• december
• dismember
• nonmember
• november
• remember
• september
• ember