shadow war

noun

A form of armed conflict, conducted secretly in the nexus between war and peace, where various actors utilise different means to achieve their goals.

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Meanings

nounshadow war (countable and uncountable, plural shadow wars)

plural shadow wars

  1. countableuncountableA form of armed conflict, conducted secretly in the nexus between war and peace, where various actors utilise different means to achieve their goals.

    The Iran-Israel conflict was once limited largely to a shadow war.

    2024 October 28, Scott Peterson, “Israeli strikes inside Iran cross a threshold. How will Iran respond?”, in The Christian Science Monitor

Origin

From shadow + war.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

shadow war. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shadow%20war

MLA

“shadow war.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shadow%20war. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shadow war,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shadow%20war.

Source: shadow war on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.