Khmer Rouge

[ kmair roozh, kuh-mair ]

noun

, plural Khmers Rouges [kmair, , roozh, k, uh, -, mair]

1. a Cambodian guerrilla and rebel force and political opposition movement, originally Communist and Communist-backed.
2. a member or supporter of this force.

Khmer Rouge

/ ruːʒ /

noun

1. the Kampuchean communist party, which seized power (1975) in a civil war: in exile since 1979, dispersed in 1999

Khmer Rouge

1. The communist movement in Kampuchea ( Cambodia ) in Southeast Asia . It came to power in 1975.

Notes

Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, after it came to power, instituted one of the worst examples of genocide in world history. Estimates of the number of people killed under this regime vary from two million to four million.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Khmer Rouge¹

< French Khmer (or Khmère ) rouge literally, red Khmer

Example Sentences

After Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 to throw out the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, it was isolated and sanctioned by China and the West, and depended heavily on Soviet assistance.

From BBC

The Khmer Rouge still posed a military threat into the late 1990s, and much of the early coverage focused on that conflict, aided by a multinational staff and freelancers.

From Seattle Times

Lives lived: John Pilger, a muckraking journalist who was best known for a documentary about the Khmer Rouge’s genocide in Cambodia, died at 84.

From New York Times

He won an International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences award for his 1979 film “Year Zero: The Silent Death Of Cambodia,” which revealed the extent of the Khmer Rouge’s atrocities.

From Seattle Times

He won an International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences award for his 1979 film “Year Zero: The Silent Death Of Cambodia,” which revealed the extent of the Khmer Rouge’s atrocities.

From Washington Times