counterinsurgency
Americannoun
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:
But the U.S. was fully engaged in counterinsurgency strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan, which made a priority of using the weapons the Pentagon already had instead of producing the new ones of the future.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
The weapon, which been in use by the Army and Marine Corps since 2005, has provided firepower in counter terror and counterinsurgency operations in places like Syria for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2025
The counterinsurgency doctrine made famous by Gen. David Petraeus governed operations during my time in Iraq.
From Slate ● Jun. 10, 2025
A US military base located in Kenya’s coastal county of Lamu has been the backbone of those counterinsurgency operations.
From BBC ● May 24, 2024
Instead, counterinsurgency efforts focus on a strategy of "clear, hold, and build"—"clearing" areas of insurgents and death squads, "holding" those areas with Iraqi security forces, and "building" areas with quick-impact reconstruction projects.
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.
