demobilizedadj.n.
/dᵻˈməʊbᵻlʌɪzd/, /dᵻˈməʊbl̩ʌɪzd/, /(ˌ)diːˈməʊbᵻlʌɪzd/, /(ˌ)diːˈməʊbl̩ʌɪzd/, U.S. /diˈmoʊbəˌlaɪzd/, /dəˈmoʊbəˌlaɪzd/ A. adj.
Of a military force, troops, etc.: released from a state of being mobilized; that has been demobilized. Cf. demobbed adj.
ΚΠ
1865 R. J. Hinton Rebel Invasion Missouri & Kansas xix. 276 Immediate and unremitting pursuit must exhaust the rebels, deplete his army by constant desertion, and finally compel him to flee only as a mob retires, disordered, demobilized and demoralized utterly.
1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 490/2 The Boer War had left me a demobilized officer of artillery, exiled because of my irreconcilableness.
1945 Manch. Guardian 11 Aug. 4/3 It is not easy for the demobilised man, especially the officer, to come down to present-day civilian earth.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 Oct. i. 11/5 In a speech to the demobilized soldiers and hundreds of onlookers, he said that ‘Guns we were using as a holy tool yesterday in defense of the country’ should now be used to create order and the Afghan National Army.
B. n.
With the. People who have been demobilized as a class. Cf. demobbed n.
ΚΠ
1916 Locomotive Engineers' Jrnl. June 487/2 Another preventative against the flooding of the market by the demobilized.
1945 R. A. Burkhart Church & Returning Soldier (title page) The discharged of the present and the demobilized of the future.
1991 J. Schatz Generation xiii. 215 Among the demobilized were those who left the army at the request of the party, being then directed to places where they were needed.
2003 M. Giugale et al. Colombia xx. 594 These pressures are likely to increase as the conflict continues and..by the demands of the demobilized.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1865