Standard Lemma guide

counterinsurgency

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: K AW2 N T ER0 IH0 N S ER1 JH AH0 N S IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any political or military action taken to defeat insurgency, especially during guerrilla warfare.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The United States will continue to pursue a military and civilian counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

actions taken by a government to defeat insurgency

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pacification

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: conflict, struggle, battle

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *komterosder. Proto-Italic *komterād Latin contrāder. Old French contre- Anglo-Norman countre-bor. Middle English counter- English counter- English insurgent English -cy English insurgency English counterinsurgency From counter- + insurgency.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 反叛亂 /反叛乱 — Translations