paramilitary
adjective
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This term paramilitary can take in a wide range of organizations, but is usually applied to forces formed by a government. Groups opposing a government, even when organized along military lines, are more often referred to as guerrillas or insurgents. In countries with weak central governments (such as, in recent times, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, or Congo), warlords may form their own paramilitary forces and take over all local police and military functions. Paramilitary often has a sinister sound today, since it's also applied to groups of off-duty military or police personnel who carry out illegal violence, often at night, with the quiet support of a government.
Examples of paramilitary in a Sentence
Amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
The initial tattoo image resembled a specific symbol of Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for the systematic murders of millions of Jews and others in Europe during World War II.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2025
Demobilized soldiers flocked to the paramilitary organizations that all major parties maintained, from the Nazi Stormtroopers (SA) to the conservative Steel Helmet League to the communists’ Red Front Fighters’ Association.
—Time, 23 Oct. 2025
Additional fighting between troops and militants apparently broke out in a second area in Pakistan’s Orakzai district to the north, where Islamabad said six Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed and two security officials were wounded.
—Caitlin McFall, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Paramilitary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paramilitary. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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