counterinsurgency
Americannoun
-
counterinsurgencies
plural
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of counterinsurgency
First recorded in 1960–65; counter- + insurgency
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:
John Nagl, who strongly felt that the Army’s top brass were too hidebound to the old ways of warfighting—large-scale tank-and-infantry battles—and were blocking the promotions of officers who were fighting counterinsurgency battles in the field.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Rwanda’s withdrawal threats came as top Mozambican officials visited Brussels to seek continued EU funding for counterinsurgency efforts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Army, counterinsurgency doctrine dictates 20 to 25 troops for every 1,000 inhabitants to achieve stability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
He later deployed to Afghanistan as a counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2024
The Iraqi National Police numbers roughly 25,000 and its officers have been trained in counterinsurgency operations, not police work.
From The Iraq Study Group Report by Iraq Study Group (U.S.)
The focus for the past 20 years has been on Central Command and, exactly as you said, on counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2022
As the U.S. extricates itself from these counterinsurgencies and withdraws from Afghanistan and Iraq, it is somewhat similar to what happened after Vietnam.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2022
Weapons designed to kill from afar may not be best for counterinsurgencies, in which intelligence is most often gleaned only by personal contact.
From Time Magazine Archive
Successful counterinsurgencies are always ugly and morally challenging.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
