militant
58
6.7
- adjective
- /ˈmɪlɪtənt/
:
armado
- The bombers were members of a new militant group that no-one had heard of.
- militant groups
- militant Islamists
- militant separatists
We have a Bureau in Tehran, and they're covering the fallout from an attack by Iran's Revolutionary Guard on militant groups inside Syria.
- We have a Bureau in Tehran, and they're covering the fallout from an attack by Iran's Revolutionary Guard on militant groups inside Syria.
- So clearly the more militant side of it, the Ulster Freedom Fighters was a very small group of people, very small group of people.
- It's like being in the most militant army without even.
- And Malcolm is of course turned into this militant angry Muslim who just wanted violence and was seeking chaos here in the United States.
Examples
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By the 1970s, Algeria's mosques were largely in the hands of militant imams.
Academic text (1997) -
Reports indicate that a militant faction has taken control of several strategic locations in the region.
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You said they were a militant group.
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And neighboring countries would support militant resistance for their own interests.
Academic text (2008) -
In each case, the resulting militant movement has been closely linked to religious authority and belief.
Academic text (1999) -
The crisis came to the fore with increased militant activities on the part of Islamist groups.
Academic text (1995) -
Human Rights Watch has also reported extensively on abuses by militant organizations in Kashmir.
Academic text (1995) -
The Vietnamese Buddhist Church's plea for peace was not welcome among militant groups in the South.
Academic text (1999) -
Urban mosques often became centers for the recruitment of rural migrants into militant organizations.
Academic text (1999) -
Outspoken secularists have been vilified, threatened, beaten, and even murdered by militant Islamists.
Academic text (1996)
Synonyms
311
3.7
Behaving in a hostile way and ready to attack or argue
31
6.1
Being ready to argue or fight
4
7.7
Being a country or group at war
Groups or countries that fight each other
Antonyms
Compounds
An organized group inside the British Labour Party that campaigned for socialism in the 1960s to 1980s
How Warlike
Surface Forms
Morphology
militant = military (transparent) = milit + ant
This sense directly denotes involvement in fighting or warfare, which closely matches the 'military' semantic field, making the derivation clear to learners.
Etymology
Militant comes from the Latin militare ('to serve as a soldier') and was used for people who fought as soldiers. That is why we call armed or fighting groups 'militant'—they are actually acting like soldiers in combat.