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
Farnoush Amiri, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2025
The case began in 2012, when Uribe, of the now-opposition Centro Democrático party, accused Senator Iván Cepeda, of the ruling Historic Pact, of trying to link him to the creation of a paramilitary group.
—Mauricio Torres, CNN Money, 1 Aug. 2025
Some had survived a brutal occupation by the paramilitary group at war with the army.
—Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 30 July 2025
Uribe — who remains a towering figure in Latin America — was convicted of bribing a witness who alleged the former president masterminded a paramilitary group three decades ago, and faces up to 12 years in prison.
—Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 30 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Noun
The broadcaster said that Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took the presenter’s mother, father and younger brother to an unidentified location.
—Farnoush Amiri, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2025
The case began in 2012, when Uribe, of the now-opposition Centro Democrático party, accused Senator Iván Cepeda, of the ruling Historic Pact, of trying to link him to the creation of a paramilitary group.
—Mauricio Torres, CNN Money, 1 Aug. 2025
Some had survived a brutal occupation by the paramilitary group at war with the army.
—Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 30 July 2025
Uribe — who remains a towering figure in Latin America — was convicted of bribing a witness who alleged the former president masterminded a paramilitary group three decades ago, and faces up to 12 years in prison.
—Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 30 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for paramilitary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paramilitary
Adjective
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National Guard troops could start carrying weapons on the streets of Washington, DC, as soon as this weekend after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed soldiers deployed to President Donald Trump's police and military crackdown on the capital city to arm themselves.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
23 Aug. 2025
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Seoul, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid an emotional tribute to soldiers killed while fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine, saying his ‘heart aches’ in a rare admission of military losses.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Rivera Lynch, who was born in Milwaukee, lived with his dad in Middleburg, Fla., where the father is a command information system security manager at the nearby naval air base.—
Brian Anthony Hernandez,
People.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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Since December, Moscow has sought ties with the new government in a bid to preserve its strategic military bases there, especially the Tartus naval base.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Both José and Patricia had been Montoneros, left-wing guerrillas, but had largely retreated from activism.—
Julia M. Klein,
The Atlantic,
11 July 2025
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As early as the 1970s, Jordan’s crushing of Palestinian guerrillas prompted the emergence of the Black September organization and the Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes.—
HUSSEIN AGHA,
Foreign Affairs,
23 June 2025
Adjective
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The Palestinian militant group also abducted more than 250 hostages.—
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Aug. 2025
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Now, that was never actually true, and certainly on January 6th, when a lot of the members of these militant groups went to the Capitol and attacked police officers, injuring more than 100 of them, their love for law enforcement was not genuine.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs said the eight civilians were released alongside soldiers and other security force members.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
24 Aug. 2025
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National Guard troops could start carrying weapons on the streets of Washington, DC, as soon as this weekend after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed soldiers deployed to President Donald Trump's police and military crackdown on the capital city to arm themselves.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
23 Aug. 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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In one of the most tragic stories from Persian mythology, the legendary warrior Rostam unknowingly kills his own son, Sohrab, in battle.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Aug. 2025
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In 2004, two 6-foot-tall statues of Chinese soldiers — a gift from sister city Xi’an, and replicas of some of the 7,000 life-sized terra cotta warriors found at the tomb of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang — were installed at the north end of the bridge.—
Eric Adler
August 17,
Kansas City Star,
17 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Paramilitary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paramilitary. Accessed 29 Aug. 2025.
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