as in aggression
the opinions or actions of people who believe that a country should use military methods, forces, etc., to gain power and to achieve its goals
The administration has been criticized for the militarism of its foreign policy.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of militarism
Bigelow has often been accused of being apolitical—or, because of her fascination with the codes, rites, and aesthetics of men at war, of advancing a gung-ho fetishization of American militarism.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025
People implemented racist clauses in housing deeds and rejected or offered outrageously predatory lending terms to nonwhites, permitting exceptions occasionally to Asians only by assuming their proximity to whiteness or to American militarism.
—Arabelle Sicardi, Allure, 9 Oct. 2025
This truth, in fact, can be extended to a significant number of other nations where science to varying degrees has been a victim of politicization, isolation, and retreat—Japan during the period of ultra-militarism, Spain under Franco, Iran in the hands of its theocratic regime.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
But militarism and conquest of the landscape were major themes of the growing right-wing nationalism in Austria, in which Mörk became immersed.
—Danny Robb, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for militarism
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025
People implemented racist clauses in housing deeds and rejected or offered outrageously predatory lending terms to nonwhites, permitting exceptions occasionally to Asians only by assuming their proximity to whiteness or to American militarism.
—Arabelle Sicardi, Allure, 9 Oct. 2025
This truth, in fact, can be extended to a significant number of other nations where science to varying degrees has been a victim of politicization, isolation, and retreat—Japan during the period of ultra-militarism, Spain under Franco, Iran in the hands of its theocratic regime.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
But militarism and conquest of the landscape were major themes of the growing right-wing nationalism in Austria, in which Mörk became immersed.
—Danny Robb, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for militarism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for militarism
Noun
-
Armia, also signed over the summer, has been as advertised, bringing aggression, energy and a serious threat to score shorthanded.—
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
7 Feb. 2026
-
With Russia and Belarus officially banned, and the games taking place in Europe, there will likely be significant diplomatic attention on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.—
Samuel Sanders,
Time,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Critics accuse him of trying to usher in a new era of imperialism.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Beijing has already cast that US posture – seen most acutely in the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro – as a form of imperialism and bullying.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Way, meanwhile, enjoys watching Katie’s aggressiveness.—
Jeff Vorva,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Errington has an endearing likability and a sense of mischief, but more aggressiveness and overconfidence would better suit the character.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The positive feelings people have toward their community translate directly into civic engagement, without the risk of increasing negative feelings such as jingoism or xenophobia.—
Sean Richey,
The Conversation,
15 Jan. 2026
-
Al-Akkad reserves his harshest criticism not for the obvious warmongers of American empire, explicit in their jingoism and nationalist fervor, but for the decorous liberal centrists, complacent in their institutional comfort, their birthright virtue too easily claimed.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Some Iranians keep showing defiance anyway.—
Sanam Mahoozi Arlette Bashizi Saumya Khandelwal Stephen Marche,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
For the next 47 years the ban stood, though a few skaters still performed backflips in competition as a show of defiance.—
Caroline Tien,
SELF,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Militarism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/militarism. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
