Khmer Rouge

American  

[kmair roozh, kuh-mair] / ˈkmɛər ˈruʒ, kəˈmɛər /

noun

plural

Khmers Rouges

1. a Cambodian guerrilla and rebel force and political opposition movement, originally Communist and Communist-backed.

2. a member or supporter of this force.

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Khmer Rouge British  

/ ruːʒ /

noun

1. the Kampuchean communist party, which seized power (1975) in a civil war: in exile since 1979, dispersed in 1999

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Khmer Rouge Cultural  

1. The communist movement in Kampuchea (Cambodia) in Southeast Asia. It came to power in 1975.

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Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, after it came to power, instituted one of the worst examples of genocide in world history. Estimates of the number of people killed under this regime vary from two million to four million.

Etymology

Origin of Khmer Rouge

< French Khmer (or Khmère ) rouge literally, red Khmer

Example Sentences

But I was coming from a youth performing arts school where I was in a French play and then “A Cambodian Odyssey,” about the Khmer Rouge.

From Los Angeles Times

Their guide in the slums of the capital was Sothea Arun, a slight and soft-spoken man who says he lost his parents and many family members to the Khmer Rouge.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The only time I was taught anything about Cambodia was the Khmer Rouge,” Thy said, referring to the communist regime that ruled the country in the 1970s.

From Los Angeles Times

After Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 to throw out the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, it was isolated and sanctioned by China and the West, and depended heavily on Soviet assistance.

From BBC

The Khmer Rouge still posed a military threat into the late 1990s, and much of the early coverage focused on that conflict, aided by a multinational staff and freelancers.

From Seattle Times