insurgency
noun
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Insurgencies fall into the category of "irregular warfare", since an insurgency normally lacks the organization of a revolution, even though it has the same aims. Revolutions often begin within a country's armed forces, whereas insurgencies often arise in remote areas, where they gain strength slowly by winning the confidence of rural populations. An insurgency may be based on ethnic or religious identity, or its roots may be basically political or economic. Since insurgencies are rarely strong enough to face a national army head-on, insurgents (often called guerrillas) tend to use such tactics as bombing, kidnapping, hostage taking, and hijacking.
Examples of insurgency in a Sentence
Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2025
Rather than quelling terrorist attacks, permanently suppressing Palestinian aspirations would likely fuel an endless insurgency.
—Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 16 Sep. 2025
African states, too, have started hiring Russian, Turkish, Romanian, and South African private military companies (PMCs) to battle insurgencies, to deploy drones against jihadists, and to reclaim resource-rich areas taken over by rebels.
—Alia Brahimi, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
The Kurdish insurgency has, after all, raged for decades and presented an ongoing security and human rights concern.
—Alpaslan Ozerdem, The Conversation, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for insurgency
Cite this Entry
“Insurgency.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insurgency. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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insurgency
noun
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