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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of paramilitary
CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2025
Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group funded by Iran, supported Assad and played a major role in Syria’s civil war.
—Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2025
In 2018, Ortega broke new ground in Latin American politics by lethally suppressing mostly peaceful protests with police and paramilitary forces.
—Tim Brinkhof, JSTOR Daily, 8 Oct. 2025
Beijing also sells weapons to the Arakan Army, a paramilitary group, which is fighting against the junta in Rakhine State.
—Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Noun
On Monday, a faction of the paramilitary gendarmerie supporting the protests also took control of the gendarmerie at a formal ceremony in the presence of senior government officials, a Reuters witness said.
—CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2025
Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group funded by Iran, supported Assad and played a major role in Syria’s civil war.
—Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2025
In 2018, Ortega broke new ground in Latin American politics by lethally suppressing mostly peaceful protests with police and paramilitary forces.
—Tim Brinkhof, JSTOR Daily, 8 Oct. 2025
Beijing also sells weapons to the Arakan Army, a paramilitary group, which is fighting against the junta in Rakhine State.
—Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paramilitary
Adjective
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Veteran oilman Robert Price was regaled with stories of dogsledding and adventures in Greenland as a child from his father who served as a military weatherman there during World War II.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
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Many of the marble mausoleums on this 14-acre spot are held by Argentina’s elite, some famous, others infamous—think past presidents, Nobel Prize winners, and military commanders.—
Sophie Friedman,
AFAR Media,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Under the guise of search and rescue, Beijing deploys a massive air and naval force that quarantines the island.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
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South Korea launched its first Changbogo-III Batch-II class submarine on Wednesday, marking a major milestone in the country’s push to expand its indigenous naval capabilities.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
23 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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In the militant revanche of the late Putin era, men are men, women are women, and the men are in charge.—
Julia Ioffe,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
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Pakistan has long accused Kabul of harboring the Pakistani Taliban militant group (known as the TTP), which its Afghan namesake denies.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
19 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 covers of her upcoming albums depict Pausini as a warrior in silver clothing on the Italian album, and in a light, veiled dress on the Spanish version.—
Natalia Cano,
Billboard,
21 Oct. 2025
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Likewise, Carr’s credentials will be examined in detail against a pass rush that’s earned the Trojans their warrior reputation this term.—
Ben Verbrugge,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Paramilitary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paramilitary. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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