as in soldier
a person engaged in military service
the daring exploits of the French legionaries have long been the stuff of literary and cinematic legend
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Recent Examples of legionary
The hoard consists of 25 silver denarii in total, equal to the monthly salary of a Roman legionary — or citizen soldier.
—
Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2025
Their deployments lack the ideological zeal of the foreign legionaries who flocked to Ukraine in the early months of the war.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
In the Thirties, the legionaries, as they were known, had launched pogroms that claimed hundreds of Jewish lives.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
The teenage hero is among a few witnesses, including a Neanderthal cave man, a Roman legionary and the preteen daughter of a Princeton University professor, called before a tribunal representing three great galaxies.
—Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2020
According to the Telegraph’s Mike Wright, the fort likely served as a satellite of Isca Dumnoniorum, a military fortification garrisoned by 5,500 legionaries tasked with pacifying the fiercely resisting local populations in the region.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 27 Sep. 2019
These legionaries would march 20 miles a day with 80 lbs.
—David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, 26 Dec. 2018
The modern-day version has firms sending out agents to collect debts dressed in a medley of outfits from monks to Roman legionaries.
—Bloomberg.com, 14 Feb. 2018
Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2025
Their deployments lack the ideological zeal of the foreign legionaries who flocked to Ukraine in the early months of the war.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
In the Thirties, the legionaries, as they were known, had launched pogroms that claimed hundreds of Jewish lives.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
The teenage hero is among a few witnesses, including a Neanderthal cave man, a Roman legionary and the preteen daughter of a Princeton University professor, called before a tribunal representing three great galaxies.
—Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2020
According to the Telegraph’s Mike Wright, the fort likely served as a satellite of Isca Dumnoniorum, a military fortification garrisoned by 5,500 legionaries tasked with pacifying the fiercely resisting local populations in the region.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 27 Sep. 2019
These legionaries would march 20 miles a day with 80 lbs.
—David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, 26 Dec. 2018
The modern-day version has firms sending out agents to collect debts dressed in a medley of outfits from monks to Roman legionaries.
—Bloomberg.com, 14 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legionary
Noun
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In 1961: After a decree by the Volkskammer, East German soldiers began installing a barbed wire barrier through Berlin.—
Lorenzino Estrada,
AZCentral.com,
12 Aug. 2025
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Tens of thousands of its children will grow up without fathers, and hundreds of thousands of its soldiers will be physically and emotionally scarred.—
Colin Pascal,
Baltimore Sun,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
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As Hawaiian royal and famed warrior Kaʻiana, Momoa is playing an amalgamation of recognizable Aquaman–Khal Drogo–Duncan Idaho traits in a series that fashions itself after epics like Game of Thrones with feuding factions and fantastical gods.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
1 Aug. 2025
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And shouldn’t that be seen as more of a problem for our warrior?—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
31 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Legionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legionary. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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