paramilitary

American  

[par-uh-mil-i-ter-ee] / ˌpær əˈmɪl ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to an organization operating as, in place of, or as a supplement to a regular military force.

   a paramilitary police unit.

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noun

• paramilitaries
  plural

1. Also paramilitarist a person employed in such a force.

paramilitary British  

/ ˌpærəˈmɪlɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to a group of personnel with military structure functioning either as a civil force or in support of military forces

2. denoting or relating to a force with military structure conducting armed operations against a ruling or occupying power

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noun

1. 1. a paramilitary force

   2. a member of such a force

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paramilitaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of paramilitary

First recorded in 1930–35; para- ¹ + military

Explanation

A group that's described as being paramilitary resembles an organized army. During the American Revolutionary War, the minutemen were a paramilitary group that fought in the earliest battles. When civilians organize themselves (or are organized) into a group that appears to be military, or that assists actual military troops, that's a paramilitary organization. You can also call it, simply, a paramilitary. The early twentieth century word combines the prefix para-, "near" or "resembling," and military, from its Latin root militaris, "of soldiers or war."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paramilitary paramilitaries

Mediators were also still waiting for a response from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the paramilitary group that holds the levers of power in Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Young people draped in Indian flags queued for food, painted placards and posed for photographs, while rows of police and paramilitary personnel sealed every road to parliament around them.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

The idea of carving out talks on the future administration of Hormuz was pressed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian paramilitary group that protects the regime and controls the strait, mediators said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Her death provoked widespread public grief and anger over the continued activity of paramilitary groups, which plagued the province during three decades of sectarian violence known as the Troubles.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

They looked more like an army of Robocops—black paramilitary outfits, helmets, automatic rifles.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds

It also had “what was in effect a formidable army of 40,000 paramilitaries, and it had a foreign policy. It was independent enough to launch a war.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Chad's decision to leave the ICC after 20 years comes amid allegations by national and international organisations of Ndjamena's suspected involvement in the war in neighbouring Sudan between the army and paramilitaries.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Iraq still faces many challenges, not least sectarianism, paramilitaries and Iranian meddling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

The act's fatal flaw was a conditional immunity clause - later ruled unlawful - which could have been used by ex-soldiers, or former paramilitaries.

From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025

Her husband was an Arab, and there were Israeli paramilitaries on the ground in the city.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers