paramilitary

adjective

para·​mil·​i·​tary ˌper-ə-ˈmi-lə-ˌter-ē 

ˌpa-rə-

: of, relating to, being, or characteristic of a force formed on a military pattern especially as a potential auxiliary military force

a paramilitary border patrol

paramilitary training

paramilitary noun

Did you know?

This term paramilitary can take in a wide range of organizations, but is usually applied to forces formed by a government. Groups opposing a government, even when organized along military lines, are more often referred to as guerrillas or insurgents. In countries with weak central governments (such as, in recent times, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, or Congo), warlords may form their own paramilitary forces and take over all local police and military functions. Paramilitary often has a sinister sound today, since it's also applied to groups of off-duty military or police personnel who carry out illegal violence, often at night, with the quiet support of a government.

Examples of paramilitary in a Sentence

Government forces have been attacked by heavily armed paramilitary groups in several villages.

Recent Examples on the Web

Senator Bolsonaro has documented connections to Rio’s paramilitary mafias and is under investigation for money laundering and corruption over his dealings with a disgraced banker at the center of a multibillion-dollar fraud probe. — Constance Malleret, Christian Science Monitor, 5 Oct. 2026

In June 2023, when the column of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner paramilitary company moved up the highway toward Moscow, Putin depended on his security services to tell him what was happening. — Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026

Sudan’s army, in turn, has accused Ethiopia of assisting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have been fighting government forces for control of the country. — Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026

Those included negotiations with self-defense forces like the Sierra Nevada one, which emerged following the demobilization of paramilitary groups in the early 2000s. — ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for paramilitary

• beneficiary
• bronchopulmonary
• evolutionary
• expeditionary
• extramedullary
• extraordinary
• extrapulmonary
• genitourinary
• geostationary
• hepatobiliary
• illocutionary
• insurrectionary