military-industrial complex

noun

: an informal alliance of the military and related government departments with defense industries that is held to influence government policy

Examples of military-industrial complex in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sanctions could target foreign banks that process transactions related to Russia's military-industrial complex. — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 15 Oct. 2025

But in recent decades, the regime has built the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps into a military-industrial complex from which networks of wealth and power flow. — Karim Sadjadpour, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026

Balance is required, as President Dwight Eisenhower advised at the end of his tenure, to avoid a bloated and unaccountable military-industrial complex. — Bill Weld, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2019

Half a century ago, systems—from mass communications to the Cold War military-industrial complex—were expanding rapidly, as protocols began to organize geopolitics and everyday life at several scales. — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above