military
All five men were wearing civilian clothes.
It is the largest civilian aircraft ever made.
The country insists that its nuclear research programme is purely civilian.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

The armed forces generally
absent without leave
anti-military
army
AWOL
CAO
casualty assistance officer
casualty notification officer
dog tag
French Foreign Legion
guard
multi-service
non-military
outmarch
paramilitary
psych ops
quarter
recce
the military-industrial complex
the National Guard
the SAS

civilian | American Dictionary

civilian
noun[ C ]
us/səˈvɪl·jən/

civiliannoun[C] (ORDINARY PERSON)

politics & government
a person who is not a member of the police, the armed forces, or a fire department:
The senator is not the only civilian who would like to ride in a space shuttle.
civilian
adjective[ not gradable ]
us/səˈvɪl·jən/

civilianadjective[not gradable] (ORDINARY)

of, relating to, or being a person who is not a member of the police, the armed forces, or a fire department:
the civilian population
civilian workers/employees

Examples of civilian

civilian
Given the nascent army's triumph over local bosses, a new centralised power emerged, not civilians, but the armed forces themselves (39).
After handing over power to elected civilians in 1969, the military struck again in 1972.
Persuading local inhabitants to give support voluntarily means that guerrillas must either adapt their message to local beliefs, or educate civilians to change their preferences.
In particular, it allowed its soldiers to wreak havoc on civilians during military operations.
My informants also insisted that zonal commanders, political officials and civilians organised relations between civilians and guerrillas differently, particularly during early phases of the war.
When the safe zone collapsed in the next phase of the war, they confronted this dilemma directly by temporarily withdrawing their protection of civilians.
An escalating brutality demonstrated by the 221st against local civilians derived from its increasingly stretched circumstances and the growing threat of the enemy.
The constant risk of betrayal meant isolating themselves from encounters with civilians other than carefully arranged meetings.
Common law borrowed nothing of much substance from contemporary canonists and civilians.
However, news reports indicate that police forces were more interested in mounting illegal checkpoints and extorting bribes from civilians than in maintaining law and order.
While ostensibly run by civilians, navy men held important positions in nearly every society.
The priests reported the arbitrary killings of civilians in almost all the places where there were missions.
There is evidence that upon independence in 1975, anti-witchcraft trials were held again in some parts of the south-east at the instigation of civilians.
What the 20th century has shown the world is the effects of modern war technology on civilians.
More than two hundred civilians were assassinated, without motive, because of chance meetings or at the humour of the soldiers.
See all examples of civilian
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