noncombatant
Not a soldier
A noncombatant is a person not engaged in fighting during a war or conflict.
The term covers civilians, medical personnel, chaplains, and others protected under international law from deliberate attack.
Military members who don't directly participate in combat—cooks, clerks, mechanics—may also be called noncombatants: The treaty required safe passage for noncombatants.
Having no weapons
- innocentFree from moral wrong
- bystanderOne who observes nearby
- populationAll inhabitants combined
- residentOne who inhabits
citizen · inhabitant · passerby · stranger · worker · journalist · medic · chaplain
One refusing military service morally
- antiwarOpposed to armed conflict
- nonviolentNot using physical force
- peacefulFree from disturbance
- dovishFavoring conciliation over aggression
passive resistance · civil disobedience · refusal · draft dodger · objection · religious exemption · Quaker · Mennonite
Wartime humanitarian treaties
- humanitarianHelper of suffering people
- immunityProtected from harm
- Red CrossInternational emergency relief organization
- UNHCRUN body aiding refugees
exemption · sanctuary · safe haven · human rights · war crime · aid worker · medical personnel · relief
Without means to resist
- exposedOut in open
- helplessUnable to act independently
- endangeredAt risk of extinction
- at-riskSubject to potential harm
unprotected · threatened · displaced · victim · casualty · survivor · evacuee · fleeing
Not favoring any side
- impartialShowing no preference
- monitorDisplay or supervisor
- inspectorOfficial quality checker
- journalistNews profession practitioner
correspondent · witness · reporter · peacekeeper · mediator · diplomat · election monitor · embedded
unarmed
Having no weapons
- innocentFree from moral wrong
- bystanderOne who observes nearby
- populationAll inhabitants combined
resident · citizen · inhabitant · passerby · stranger · worker · journalist · medic · chaplain · contractor
conscientious objector
One refusing military service morally
- antiwarOpposed to armed conflict
- nonviolentNot using physical force
- peacefulFree from disturbance
dovish · passive resistance · civil disobedience · refusal · draft dodger · objection · religious exemption · Quaker · Mennonite · peacemaker
Geneva Conventions
Wartime humanitarian treaties
- humanitarianHelper of suffering people
- immunityProtected from harm
- Red CrossInternational emergency relief organization
UNHCR · exemption · sanctuary · safe haven · human rights · war crime · aid worker · medical personnel · relief · evacuation
defenseless
Without means to resist
- exposedOut in open
- helplessUnable to act independently
- endangeredAt risk of extinction
at-risk · unprotected · threatened · displaced · victim · casualty · survivor · evacuee · fleeing · trapped
neutral
Not favoring any side
journalist · correspondent · witness · reporter · peacekeeper · mediator · diplomat · election monitor · embedded · documenting
- "Non-" wordsnonprofit, nonfiction, nonstop, nonsense, nonfat
- protected personscivilian, refugee, asylum seeker, minor, child
- unarmedweaponless, bare hands, empty hands, fists, hand-to-hand
- vulnerabilityvulnerability, vulnerable, defenselessness, defenseless, helplessness
- military relationshipsally, enemy, comrade, commander, subordinate
- military statusactive duty, enlisted, retired, deployed, veteran