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militant Definition

mili·tant (mili tənt)

adjective

  1. at war; fighting
  2. ready and willing to fight; esp., vigorous or aggressive in support or promotion of a cause

Etymology: ME < L militans, prp. of militare, to serve as a soldier < miles (gen. militis), soldier

noun

a militant person

militant Related Forms

mili·tancy noun mili·tantly adverb

militant Synonyms

militant

modif.

combative, aggressive, belligerent, activist; see aggressive 1, 2, militaristic. See syn. study at aggressive.

militant Synonyms

militant

n.

rioter, violent objector, demonstrator; see protester.

militant Usage Examples

Converse of subject

kill: He was the third westerner to be killed by suspected Islamic militants in Saudi Arabia in a week.

Converse of object

  • suspect: Palestinian police have arrested several militants suspected of involvement in Wednesday's bomb attack on an American diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip.
  • arrest: Police said that they had already arrested 13 militants they said had been preparing to provoke Mayday violence.
  • kill: Israel handed over the remains of 15 militants killed in shooting or bomb attacks against Israelis within the past two years.
  • recruit: Dissent mounted in the Congress Socialists ' ranks, especially among militants recruited during the August Struggle.

Adjective modifier

  • Islamic: The attacks have generally been blamed on Islamic militants.
  • Palestinian: Israel said the move was intended to deter future attacks by Palestinian militants.
  • suspected: Hundreds of suspected militants have been arrested in the campaign.
  • Trotskyist: The Young Socialists of the Seine, who were led by Trotskyist militants, brought their support to the strike.
  • Muslim: India also accuses Pakistan of clothing " pretty faced " Muslim militants in women's dresses.
  • revolutionary: The few revolutionary militants who were leading the strike were doubtless a pole of regroupment for some of them.

Modifies a noun

  • republicanism: There is no need for working class leadership or militant republicanism.
  • Islamist: Militant Islamists active in the Iraq crisis will also be affected whatever the outcome is.
  • atheist: It is not just militant atheists who doubt the historical value - mainstream Christian scholars also do.
  • suffragette: Around 1908 a branch of the militant suffragettes, the WSPU, was established.
  • secularism: In contemporary Europe, for instance, the anthropocentric vision takes the form of militant secularism, which actively opposes any manifestations of religiosity.
  • atheism: Indeed, it seems like the supreme irony that militant atheism has managed to acquire the mentality of a religion.

Noun used with modifier

  • islamist: I can give you a direct assurance that they are - or in many cases were - in no sense Islamist militants.
  • union: Trade union militants were hit hardest by the defeats of the Thatcher years.
  • wing: And there is still a large number of left wing militants around the country, and people with left wing ideals.