adjective
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joined, as by treaty, agreement, or marriage; united
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of the same type or class; related
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of allied
A Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at ally, -ed 2
Explanation
Allied means united or joined together. If two countries are allied, they are on the same side and have common interests. When two people are allied, they are friendly — or at least cooperative. To be allied means to have an agreement to work together, so when politicians are allied on a bill, they've pledged to join forces and unite for a common cause. In a war, allied countries are fighting on the same side. Allied comes from ally, which first meant "join in marriage," from the Latin root alligare, "bind to."
Vocabulary lists containing allied
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:
The U.S. is expanding domestic manufacturing with help from companies based in allied nations such as South Korea’s LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The ambiguity in the lyrics allied to the familiar, easy melody, Harrison believes, allows fans to "express an outpouring of love without necessarily specifying what it's towards".
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
“The main objective here really is to make the American and allied supply chain for these critical minerals more robust and more resilient,” David Fitzgerald, the deputy undersecretary of the Army, said in an interview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Tigray borders Eritrea and during the war, its troops were allied with Ethiopian government forces.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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The Allied oil campaign against Germany showed that modern armies can’t fight without fuel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Army Europe and Africa, and commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command — will step down in July after only 18 months in the job.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
The details of Stalin’s failure to mount a horse in Red Square or Churchill’s comments about Clement Attlee reveal legendary Allied figures behaving not so legendarily.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
"May we learn from this past," Hegseth said in reference to the pivotal involvement of American troops in the Allied landings.
From Barron's ● Jun. 6, 2026
A career military man, commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War II, he’d seen plenty of aerial reconnaissance photos.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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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.