guerrilla
/ɡəˈɹɪlə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.38 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A soldier in a small independent group, fighting against the government or regular forces by surprise raids.
noun
noun
A maker of guerrilla television.
adj
Relating to, using, or typical of guerrilla warfare, or its principles of small independent or non-official perpetrators.
adj
Relating to, using, or typical of guerrilla marketing.
adj
Using unconventional, non-traditional, non-mainstream and often subversive practices to achieve something.
Example Sentences
- "The right-wing paramilitary's offensive against the Marxist guerrillas failed because they did not know the terrain well enough."
- "From the start of its operations in Colombia, the company was on guard against the decadeslong civil strife in the country between left-wing guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary groups, witnesses have testified."
- "After a harsh police crackdown last week fueled anger and swelled protests, President Dilma Rousseff, a former guerrilla who was imprisoned under the dictatorship and has now become the target of pointed criticism herself, tried to appease dissenters by embracing their cause on Tuesday."
- "Wherever Nicholson was most wanted, there he was sure to be found. What his life was at this time may be seen from a letter he wrote to his mother: 'I am leading a very guerrilla sort of life with seven hundred horse and foot raised among the people of the country. The chieftain who is in rebellion has eight regular regiments and sixteen guns, so that I am unable to meet them openly in the field.'"
- "On the other hand, after the fall of Feng Ling Tu, the operations of Central Shansi, and Suiyuan, troops were more guerrilla than orthodox in nature."
- "The Slovak uprising in the latter days was not guerrilla in character, which, incidentally, may have been one of the reasons for its failure."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wers-der. Proto-Germanic *werzaną Proto-West Germanic *werʀan Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Germanic *-ō Proto-West Germanic *-u Frankish *werʀubor. Early Medieval Latin werra Spanish guerra Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -ellus Latin -ella Old Spanish -iella Spanish -illa Spanish guerrillabor. English guerrilla Borrowed from Spanish guerrilla, diminutive of guerra (“war”), coined during the Peninsular War.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɡəˈɹɪlə/
- British English: /ɡəˈɹɪlə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
guerrillas (plural)
guerilla (alternative, obsolete)
more guerrilla (comparative)
most guerrilla (superlative)