Meaning & use
militancy
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A readiness to take strong, often confrontational action in support of a cause.
Grammar: Uncountable: rising militancy, not a militancy.
Patterns
- the militancy of someone
- a rise in militancy
The union's militancy increased after the factory closed.
Years of neglect led to growing militancy among the farmers.
The students' militancy surprised the university leaders.
noununcountable
The use of violence or armed force by extremist groups in pursuit of political aims.
Grammar: Used with words like Islamist or separatist to describe violent activity: separatist militancy.
Patterns
- militancy in a region
- armed militancy
The government promised to reduce militancy in the border region.
Armed militancy had made the province unsafe for years.
Common combinations
- growing militancy
- The growing militancy of the workers worried the managers.
- union militancy
- Union militancy peaked during the national strike.
- rise of militancy
- Analysts warned about the rise of militancy in the region.
- curb militancy
- The new laws were meant to curb militancy.
- political militancy
- Political militancy often grows when people feel ignored.
Synonyms and how they differ
- activism
- Activism covers any energetic campaigning and is usually milder than militancy, which suggests aggressive or confrontational methods.
- radicalism
- Radicalism describes extreme ideas about change, while militancy describes aggressive action for a cause.
- extremism
- Extremism implies beliefs far outside the mainstream and is almost always negative, whereas militancy can sometimes be viewed with sympathy.
- aggression
- Aggression is hostile behavior without any cause attached, while militancy is tied to a particular cause.
Opposites
Word family
- militant adjective
- aggressively active in support of a cause
- militant noun
- a person who uses forceful methods for a cause
- militantly adverb
- in an aggressive, determined way
- militarism noun
- the belief that a country should rely on military strength
Commonly confused: militancy or militarism?
militancy vs militarism
Militarism is the belief in building up military power, while militancy is aggressive support for any cause, not necessarily involving an army.
Practice
After talks collapsed, the union's ____ grew, and members began blocking the factory gates.
Choose one answer.
Militancy means aggressive readiness to act for a cause, which matches blocking gates. Militarism is a belief in military power, and a militia is an armed group, so neither fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “militancy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.