dirty war

American  

noun

dirty wars plural

1. a war conducted by the military or secret police of a regime against revolutionary and terrorist insurgents and marked by the regime's use of kidnapping, torture, and murder, with members of the civilian population often the victims.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dirty wars
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dirty war

He now leads Georgia State students on tours of dirty war sites in Buenos Aires.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2023

For Moreno Ocampo, the politics of the dirty war were personal and familial.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2023

Related: Pope's South American tour recalls a divided church – and a dirty war Saldaño is the third of Guerrero’s four children, and her eldest son.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 23, 2015

KIGOGO, Democratic Republic of Congo — Shortly after midday in this village nestled in clouds, the progenitors of the long, dirty war across Central Africa came out of the jungle and laid down their guns.

From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2014

He told the BBC: "I think it's very ironic that we've had talk of a dirty war, and we've had talks of dirty deals, and we've talks of dirty peace."

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2014