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 guerrilla
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of paramilitary
Literary Hub, 27 Jan. 2026
The paramilitary tactics must cease and desist.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Sudan peace efforts resumed in Cairo on Wednesday with Egypt and the United Nations calling on warring parties to agree to a nationwide humanitarian truce, as the war between the army and its rival paramilitary nears the three-year mark.
—Fatma Khaled, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Adjective
Personally, Angela has been turning to history books, and just finished A Flower Traveled in My Blood, about the Dirty War in Argentina, the children stolen by the state’s paramilitary squads, and the women who fought to find them.
—Literary Hub, 27 Jan. 2026
The paramilitary tactics must cease and desist.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
Noun
Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij paramilitary are the enforcers and protectors of the ruling regime in Tehran, not the regular national army, known in Iran as the Artesh.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Sudan peace efforts resumed in Cairo on Wednesday with Egypt and the United Nations calling on warring parties to agree to a nationwide humanitarian truce, as the war between the army and its rival paramilitary nears the three-year mark.
—Fatma Khaled, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paramilitary
Adjective
-
Howard, who had served as a second lieutenant with the Ninety‑Second Division, 366th Infantry in France during World War I, accused President Truman of using the Cold War to justify a sweeping peacetime expansion of America’s global military footprint.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Aviation officials made strides to change military helicopter flight path rules around Washington, DC, and later promised a new air traffic control system would be implemented during the current presidential administration to support aviation safety.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Other artists of this era sought to intervene, guerrilla style, in the apparatuses of advertising, in order to shake consumers from their hypnotic slumber.—
Michael Cowan,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
-
The seats were created as part of a landmark 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the country's largest guerrilla group, known as the FARC.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The position of the incident appeared to be in Iranian territorial waters, where officials had warned of a naval drill by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in recent days.—
Jon Gambrell,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
-
However, the ability to handle multiple threats in one scenario reflects lessons learned from recent naval operations where large numbers of drones have strained traditional air defense systems.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
Adjective
-
Chief Minister of Balochistan Sarfraz Bugti said 17 law enforcement personnel and 31 civilians were killed in the militant attacks.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
1 Feb. 2026
-
The militant raids began early Saturday at locations across Balochistan and left 18 civilians, including five women and three children, and 15 security personnel dead, authorities said.—
Abdul Sattar,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Some galaxies, known as irregulars, don't fit neatly into either mold.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
29 Sep. 2025
-
The existence of the irregulars raises an important question: How small can a galaxy get?—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
8 May 2025
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
Noun
-
Figueroa, who was identified as the driver of the Impala, could not be found when troopers arrived, the warrant affidavit said.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
3 Feb. 2026
-
The troopers spotted the Nissan Rogue tied to the kidnapping on Interstate 81 northbound in South Middleton Township, Cumberland County, authorities said.—
Michael Guise,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Paramilitary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paramilitary. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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