insurgent

¹in·sur·gent

noun \-jənt\

Definition of INSURGENT

1

: a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government; especially : a rebel not recognized as a belligerent

2

: one who acts contrary to the policies and decisions of one's own political party

Examples of INSURGENT

1. Insurgents are trying to gain control of the country's transportation system.
2. <the government subjected the insurgents to the most inhuman torture imaginable>

Origin of INSURGENT

Latin insurgent-, insurgens, present participle of insurgere to rise up, from in- + surgere to rise — more at surge

First Known Use: 1765

Related to INSURGENT

Synonyms: rebel, insurrectionary, insurrectionist, mutineer, red, revolter, revolutionary, revolutionist

Related Words: challenger, defier, insubordinate, oppositionist, recusant, refuser, resistant, resister; anarch, anarchist; discontent, extremist, malcontent, radical

Near Antonyms: loyalist, patriot, supporter; counterinsurgent, counterrevolutionary, counterrevolutionist

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Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism