as in soldier
a person engaged in military service
the daring exploits of the French legionaries have long been the stuff of literary and cinematic legend
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Recent Examples of legionary
The hoard consists of 25 silver denarii in total, equal to the monthly salary of a Roman legionary — or citizen soldier.
—
Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2025
Their deployments lack the ideological zeal of the foreign legionaries who flocked to Ukraine in the early months of the war.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
In the Thirties, the legionaries, as they were known, had launched pogroms that claimed hundreds of Jewish lives.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
According to the Telegraph’s Mike Wright, the fort likely served as a satellite of Isca Dumnoniorum, a military fortification garrisoned by 5,500 legionaries tasked with pacifying the fiercely resisting local populations in the region.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 27 Sep. 2019
These legionaries would march 20 miles a day with 80 lbs.
—David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, 26 Dec. 2018
The modern-day version has firms sending out agents to collect debts dressed in a medley of outfits from monks to Roman legionaries.
—Bloomberg.com, 14 Feb. 2018
Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2025
Their deployments lack the ideological zeal of the foreign legionaries who flocked to Ukraine in the early months of the war.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
In the Thirties, the legionaries, as they were known, had launched pogroms that claimed hundreds of Jewish lives.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
According to the Telegraph’s Mike Wright, the fort likely served as a satellite of Isca Dumnoniorum, a military fortification garrisoned by 5,500 legionaries tasked with pacifying the fiercely resisting local populations in the region.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 27 Sep. 2019
These legionaries would march 20 miles a day with 80 lbs.
—David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, 26 Dec. 2018
The modern-day version has firms sending out agents to collect debts dressed in a medley of outfits from monks to Roman legionaries.
—Bloomberg.com, 14 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legionary
Noun
-
Military police are often the only armed personnel on base, outside of shooting ranges, hunting areas or in training, where soldiers can wield their service weapons without ammunition.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The village’s Black residents, including Hettie, are energized by a promising but tangled effort to redress a long-standing injustice—the unequal compensation received by Black South African soldiers in the Second World War.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The theology in such conflicts usually masks more primal power struggles and still tends to make the wars and warriors more fanatical and bloodthirsty.—
Andreas Kluth,
Twin Cities,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Fearless Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya) returns in a different romantic capacity.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Legionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legionary. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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