insurgency
noun
Did you know?
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
Assaf Orion, Foreign Affairs, 3 June 2025
In a similar occurrence last September, torrential rains and a dam collapse in Nigeria’s northeastern Maiduguri caused severe flooding, leaving at least 30 people dead and displacing millions, worsening the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.
—Taiwo Adebayo, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2025
The East African country of Somalia has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and al-Shabab.
—Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 27 May 2025
For more than four decades, the Kurdish militant group known as the PKK waged an insurgency against the Turkish state that left some 40,000 people dead and reshaped the lives of millions.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 23 May 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 27 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Legal Definition
insurgency
noun
Share