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
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
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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The return of his body closed a painful chapter for the country and cleared the way for the next and more challenging phase of the ceasefire, which calls for deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas, pulling back Israeli soldiers and rebuilding Gaza.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
30 Jan. 2026
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In November, researchers published findings about the deadly pathogens that ravaged Napoleon's soldiers during his doomed 1812 retreat from Russia.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The warrior is both strong and yielding, capable of decisive action and deliberate restraint.—
Richard P. Weigand,
Rolling Stone,
30 Jan. 2026
-
There is the customary bellyaching about betrayals of the warrior ethos.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Legionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legionary. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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