paramilitary

American  

[par-uh-mil-i-ter-ee] / ˌpær əˈmɪl ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to an organization operating as, in place of, or as a supplement to a regular military force.

   a paramilitary police unit.

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noun

paramilitaries plural

1. Also paramilitarist a person employed in such a force.

paramilitary British  

/ ˌpærəˈmɪlɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to a group of personnel with military structure functioning either as a civil force or in support of military forces

2. denoting or relating to a force with military structure conducting armed operations against a ruling or occupying power

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noun

1. 1. a paramilitary force

   2. a member of such a force

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paramilitaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of paramilitary

First recorded in 1930–35; para- ¹ + military

Explanation

A group that's described as being paramilitary resembles an organized army. During the American Revolutionary War, the minutemen were a paramilitary group that fought in the earliest battles. When civilians organize themselves (or are organized) into a group that appears to be military, or that assists actual military troops, that's a paramilitary organization. You can also call it, simply, a paramilitary. The early twentieth century word combines the prefix para-, "near" or "resembling," and military, from its Latin root militaris, "of soldiers or war."

Example Sentences

Other buyers remained wary, however, with most of the Iranian oil available to buy controlled by entities sanctioned for being part of Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026

Hazzard said there is "no place for masked men, paramilitary style face coverings in broad daylight".

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

The war is a power struggle between the Sudanese army and its onetime ally, a paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, for control of the country.

From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026

Prosecutors identified Al-Saadi as a commander of the Iraqi paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah, which has ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Whenever possible, the teenagers also held the prestigious Hitler Youth Achievement Medal, earned for outstanding performance during their paramilitary training days.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti