military-industrial complex

[ mil-i-ter-ee-in-duhs-tree-uhl ]
See synonyms for military-industrial complex on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a network of a nation's military force together with all of the industries that support it.

Origin of military-industrial complex

1
First recorded in 1960–65

Words Nearby military-industrial complex

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use military-industrial complex in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for military-industrial complex

military-industrial complex

noun
  1. (in the US) the combined interests of the military establishment and industries involved in producing military material considered as exerting influence on US foreign and economic policy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for military-industrial complex

military-industrial complex

A general term for the cooperative relationship between the military and the industrial producers of military equipment and supplies in lobbying for increased spending on military programs.

Notes for military-industrial complex

In his farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned that the growth of this relationship would increase the militarization of American society and endanger the principles of democracy.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.