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
Julia Bonavita , Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Beijing also sells weapons to the Arakan Army, a paramilitary group, which is fighting against the junta in Rakhine State.
—Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
The years-long conflict between the country’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has led to the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis, leaving hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation.
—semafor.com, 29 Sep. 2025
Walter Guinness, the son of the real-life Edward and Adelaide and an ally of Winston Churchill, was killed in 1944 by Lehi, a Zionist paramilitary group called the Stern Gang by some.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Paramilitary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paramilitary. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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