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

See Examples For:

paramilitary paramilitaries

In all, 75 troops from the army and some 18 paramilitary personnel were involved in the rescue, army spokesman Brig.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Life returned to normal in Niger's capital, Niamey, on Sunday, after the military regime and its Russian paramilitary partners put down a mutiny by soldiers.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

Euphemistically known as “mobile lounges,” these hulking, 40-ton machines from the 1960s and ’70s look and feel like paramilitary vehicles trundling through a desert dystopia.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Around the time the protesters were meeting Nadda, police and paramilitary forces moved in to clear Jantar Mantar.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

One cop in all-black paramilitary gear stood in the lookout turret on top, and he surveyed the street as if he were looking for snipers.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds

The government has firm control over police and paramilitaries, and the Indian army, unlike many of its peers in the developing world, has a record of remaining apolitical.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Chad's decision to leave the ICC after 20 years comes amid allegations by national and international organisations of Ndjamena's suspected involvement in the war in neighbouring Sudan between the army and paramilitaries.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Sudan remains locked in a three‑year power struggle between the regular army and the RSF paramilitaries.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

On Thursday, a senior police officer said there was no evidence loyalist paramilitaries were co-ordinating the unrest.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Her husband was an Arab, and there were Israeli paramilitaries on the ground in the city.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers