Red Guard

noun

: a member of a paramilitary youth organization in China in the 1960s

Examples of Red Guard in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
On the left, the failure of cultural power to produce political change tends to lead to a doubling down on the cultural side, so that wholesome college campuses can seem the last redoubt of Red Guard attitudes, though not, to be sure, of Red Guard authority. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024 And when a local Red Guard leader, who had taken up residence in her father’s study, publicly denounces her father, Red Guards take him into custody. Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 15 July 2024 Tencent’s version, in contrast, has faced criticism for not showing as much of that real-life period of upheaval and eliminating plot points involving the Red Guard. Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 10 Feb. 2024 Young scientist Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng) watches as her father is beaten to death in front of a crowd by the Red Guard. Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 23 Mar. 2024 The Chinese series contains only vague references to the Revolution, and didn’t show the book’s brutish portrayals of the Red Guard. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2024 This Red Guard–like ideological frenzy is somehow attributed to the Cold Warrior Henry Kissinger. Rich Lowry, National Review, 1 Dec. 2023 One of his three sisters, who was left behind in China, went on to join the Red Guard; his mother had died years earlier. Geoffrey Mak, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2023 Song rose to national fame not long after, when a photographer captured her tying a Red Guard armband around Mao’s sleeve at an immense rally in Tiananmen Square. Mary Gallagher, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Red Guard was in 1966

Dictionary Entries Near Red Guard

Cite this Entry

“Red Guard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Red%20Guard. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.

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