paramilitary
UK/ˌpæɹəˈmɪlɪˌtɹi//ˌpæɹəˈmɪlɪˌtɛɹi/
paramilitary noun: a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion, but which do not represent the formal forces of a sovereign power.
Noun
paramilitary (plural paramilitaries)
- A group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion, but which do not represent the formal forces of a sovereign power.
- From the start of its operations in Colombia, the company was on guard against the decadeslong civil strife in the country between left-wing guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary groups, witnesses have testified.2007 July 13, Kyle Whitmire, “Suit in U.S. Over Murders in Colombia”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2021
- Cossack paramilitaries operate in Ukraine and southern Russia. […] Before he entered eastern Ukraine, Girkin led paramilitary groups in Crimea and negotiated with Ukrainian military officers in attempts to induce them to defect to Russia.2014, “Little Green Men”: A Primer on Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare, Ukraine 2013–2014, Fort Bragg, North Carolina: The United States Army Special Operations Command, pages 44-45
- A member of a paramilitary group.
Adjective
paramilitary (not comparable)
- Relating to a paramilitary.
paramilitary meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
paramilitary in Tamil
- துணை ராணுவம், துணை இராணுவம்
paramilitary in Marathi
- निमलष्करी
paramilitary in Urdu
- نیم فوجی
paramilitary in Bengali
- আধাসামরিক
More languagesFewer languages
- paramilitary in Telugu
- పారామిలిటరీ, పారామిలటరీ
- paramilitary in Kannada
- ಸೇನಾಸದೃಶ, ಸೇನಾಸಮಾನ, ಅರೆಸೈನಿಕವಾದ, ಅರೆಪಡೆಯ
- paramilitary in Punjabi
- ਅਰਧ ਸੈਨਿਕ
- paramilitary in Gujarati
- અર્ધલશ્કરી
- paramilitary in Odia
- ପାରାମିଲିଟାରୀ, ପାରାମିଲିଟାରି
- paramilitary in Nepali
- अर्धसैनिक
Forms of paramilitary
| plural | paramilitaries |
|---|---|
| alternative form | para-military |
Origin of paramilitary
From para- + military.
Words formed from paramilitary
Questions about paramilitary
- What does paramilitary mean?
- Paramilitary means a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion, but which do not represent the formal forces of a sovereign power.
- What is paramilitary in Tamil?
- Paramilitary in Tamil is துணை ராணுவம், துணை இராணுவம். See Paramilitary meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is paramilitary?
- Paramilitary can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce paramilitary?
- Paramilitary is pronounced /ˌpæɹəˈmɪlɪˌtɹi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of paramilitary?
- The plural of paramilitary is paramilitaries.
Words near paramilitary in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: paramilitary (page history and authors); paramilitary (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paramilitary (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paramilitary (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-paramilitary.wav.
Cite this entry: “paramilitary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paramilitary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.