constabulary
1 Americannoun
-
constabularies
plural
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the body of constables of a district.
-
a body of officers of the peace organized on a military basis.
adjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of constabulary1
1350–1400; < Medieval Latin constabulāria, feminine of constabulārius constabulary 2; replacing Middle English constablerie < Old French < Medieval Latin as above
Origin of constabulary2
1815–25; < Medieval Latin constabulārius; see constable, -ary
Explanation
You can refer to a police force as a constabulary. If your mother and your grandfather were both police officers, you might want to follow the family tradition and join the constabulary as well. You're most likely to use this word if you live in the United Kingdom, where police officers are known as constables and individual county police forces are often called constabularies. In the U.S., the term is reserved for specially assembled forces, like the ones established in foreign countries following wars — the U.S. constabulary in Germany after World War II is one example.
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I hope that our case will highlight failings within the constabulary and the chief constable will ensure that this never happens again."
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2025
"Molly Bury's behaviour fell way below what the constabulary expects and what the public would expect of a serving police officer."
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2025
Det Supt Haskins said while the teenagers - who were unknown to them - tried to evade the police, they used "all the powers and the force of the constabulary" to catch them.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024
Andy Cooke, chief inspector of constabulary, said the current police funding formula was "an anachronism".
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2024
"I have her—and the dinero—and a constabulary inspector," he answered evasively.
From Caybigan by James Hopper
The Guardian approached the remaining police forces in England and Wales, as well as constabularies in Scotland and Northern Ireland, none of whom are currently investigating allegations, fresh or historical, into Heath.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 6, 2015
Police commissioners were invented by the current government with the admirable motive of making constabularies accountable to their local communities.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2014
This is a really savage thing to say, that we can't trust the leadership of our constabularies to measure their own performance.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2013
A spokeswoman for Norfolk Police said cautions were "just one of the many outcomes available to constabularies" adding there "was very clear guidance" for how they should be used.
From BBC ● May 8, 2013
That is genuinely constructive work, and will do more to a humane solution of the class struggle than all the jails and state constabularies that ever betrayed the barbarism of the Twentieth Century.
From A Preface to Politics by Walter Lippmann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
