-
Special Forces
Special Forcesplural nounU.S. Army personnel trained to organize, instruct, supply, and supervise local forces engaged in guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency operations, and to themselves conduct unconventional warfare.
-
special forces
special forcesplural nounélite, highly trained military forces, specially selected to work on difficult missions
Special Forces
Americanplural noun
plural noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Following in the footsteps of his father and elder brothers, he joined the Gurkhas in 2003 at age 18 and joined the UK Special Forces in 2009.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
I have a relatively low stress response that "is almost Special Forces... you really are a cool customer I must say", says Bailey.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Commandos for the National Guard Special Forces, or FERI, secured the training exercise area and rescued a "hostage" amid a haze of explosions, smoke, and rattling gunfire.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Special Forces in January was a deep blow to the Cuban military.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
At daybreak the next morning, when Mark Fossie heard she was back, he stationed himself outside the fenced-off Special Forces area.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
![]()
He went on to join the British Army’s special forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Katie Miller, wife of Trump’s deputy chief of staff, was dining with the president in January, hours before special forces captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, and noticed Trump was in a ruminative mood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Public rebukes followed Hegseth’s decision last month to effectively fire Gen. Chris Donahue, a respected four-star commander who came up the ranks through the special forces.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
The officer, the second highest ranking in special forces at the time, said another factor in the decision was that evidence had in part come via a rival special forces regiment.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
There was a lot of Cong activity and the special forces guys in Cambodia were spotting convoys.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.