English · Slang Attested

redshirt

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

An unimportant character introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril to the important characters; an expendable character.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Nhân vật không quan trọng được giới thiệu chỉ để bị giết

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used American English

Sensing danger, Captain Kirk decided to beam down to the surface with Spock, McCoy, and a couple of redshirts.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “redshirt” mean?

An unimportant character introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril to the important characters; an expendable character.

Is “redshirt” formal or informal?

redshirt is generally slang.

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