gunboat diplomacy

noun

: diplomacy backed by the use or threat of military force

Examples of gunboat diplomacy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Few Trump supporters, however, cast their ballots for international adventurism and gunboat diplomacy. Jonathan Lemire, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2026 Are the President’s intentions actually colonial, or more simply a hostage-taking kind of gunboat diplomacy? Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2026 Rubio’s gunboat diplomacy cannot guarantee that Rodriguez can hold on to power, or that an armed opposition won’t rise and demand democracy or install a new dictator. Chris Tomlinson, Houston Chronicle, 6 Jan. 2026 On its face, the president’s Dec. 16 announcement was textbook gunboat diplomacy. Anna Mulrine Grobe, Christian Science Monitor, 23 Dec. 2025 Two centuries later, some classics never go out of style—gunboat diplomacy included. Newsweek Editors, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025 If the hope is that gunboat diplomacy will encourage Maduro to resign peacefully, the administration should be ramping up talks to seek a credible handover of power. Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 2 Dec. 2025 Close to 200 years after first being used to assert geopolitical dominance, gunboat diplomacy is very much alive and well. Andrew Latham, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1869, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gunboat diplomacy was in 1869

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Cite this Entry

“Gunboat diplomacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gunboat%20diplomacy. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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