as in military
of or relating to a group that is not an official army but that operates and is organized like an army
Government forces have been attacked by heavily armed paramilitary groups in several villages. a paramilitary police force
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Dissimilar Words
as in guerilla
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of paramilitary
NPR, 27 Oct. 2025
Caitlin McFall, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2025
Fighting between troops and militants in a second incident in Pakistan’s border district of Orakzai killed six Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and wounded six, two security officials told Reuters.
—Reuters, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Adjective
With El Fasher now apparently in the hands of the RSF, the whole of Darfur is under the paramilitary's control.
—NPR, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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
Fighting between troops and militants in a second incident in Pakistan’s border district of Orakzai killed six Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and wounded six, two security officials told Reuters.
—Reuters, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paramilitary
Adjective
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The Air Force's largest military cargo aircraft was used to lift an amphibious screw tractor to the site to help with ice removal.—
Virginia Chamlee,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
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But any agreement reached will be just one touchstone in a thorny and volatile great power rivalry between the world’s superpower democracy and an authoritarian China, whose growing military assertiveness under Xi in the East and South China Seas is rattling US allies in the region.—
Betsy Klein,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Costa Rica and Haiti made their port facilities available to ships participating in the quarantine, while the Dominican Republic offered ships, and Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras offered their air and naval bases.—
Time,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
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The crossover will find the younger Gibbs and the NCIS team investigating the death of a naval officer in a small town in the 1990s and the unexpected reopening of the case in the present, which will allow for Harmon’s return as Gibbs.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Their guerrilla tactics were effective, and in 1533 the Spanish signed a treaty with their chief leader, Enriquillo, that ended hostilities in exchange for land and freedom.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
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Trump orders a limited air attack in a remote Venezuelan area, perhaps targeting a base of the National Liberation Army (ELN) narco-guerrilla group on the border with Colombia, a Venezuelan military runway or a cocaine lab in the jungle.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Israel says the militant group can access the remains of most of the hostages.—
Maayan Lubell,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
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Israel launched its war on Hamas after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks in which the militant group and its allies killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to Gaza.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The agreement requires Thailand to release 18 Cambodian soldiers held prisoner and for both countries to begin removing heavy weapons from the border.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
26 Oct. 2025
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Even then, getting the stories of the rank-and-file soldiers can be a challenge.—
Graham Womack,
Sacbee.com,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The existence of the irregulars raises an important question: How small can a galaxy get?—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
8 May 2025
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The moons, observed from 2019 to 2021 at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, were placed into subgroups within two categories of Saturnian irregulars; the Inuit group contains the Kiviuq and Siarnaq subgroups, and the Norse group contains the Phoebe, Mundilfari, and Kari subgroups.—
Jack Knudson,
Discover Magazine,
17 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Iliad tells the story of the Greeks’ greatest warrior, Achilles, who sulks in his tent for most of the poem before rejoining the fight and turning the tide.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
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Handpicked by the expert Vogue team, the collection will satisfy even the most discerning of skincare savants, wellness warriors, makeup maestros, hair aficionados and jewelry junkies.—
Ellie Davis,
Vogue,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Paramilitary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paramilitary. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.
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