as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
today's rebel chefs feel free to ignore the dictates of classic French cuisine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in insurgent
a person who rises up against authority
the rebel would not submit peacefully, even after he was captured
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to revolt
to rise up against established authority
the colonists rebelled in the wake of an onslaught of abuses
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rebel
Jack Crosbie,
Rolling Stone,
17 June 2026
In a sport long defined by its rigidity and rigorous training, Liu, 20, is a rebel and role model for simply loving to skate.
—
Alice Park,
Time,
9 June 2026
Regina Garcia Cano,
Los Angeles Times,
21 June 2026
The 100 members of a group called the Border Commandos, who disarmed at the jungle ceremony on Thursday, were the first and only batch of rebels to do so under the Petro government.
—
John Otis,
NPR,
21 June 2026
Julia Gaffield,
The Conversation,
15 June 2026
The musical, which features a rock score, is based on the 1891 play by Frank Wedekind, which follows a group of teenagers in 19th-century Germany who are discovering their sexuality and rebelling against the strict rules set by their parents.
—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Adjective
FGC-9s have been built by underground designers in the most firearms-restrictive countries in Europe and churned out by rebel groups in Myanmar.
—
Jack Crosbie,
Rolling Stone,
17 June 2026
In a sport long defined by its rigidity and rigorous training, Liu, 20, is a rebel and role model for simply loving to skate.
—
Alice Park,
Time,
9 June 2026
Noun
Fighting between rebel groups The election comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that had offered hope to break the nation’s vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government.
—
Regina Garcia Cano,
Los Angeles Times,
21 June 2026
The 100 members of a group called the Border Commandos, who disarmed at the jungle ceremony on Thursday, were the first and only batch of rebels to do so under the Petro government.
—
John Otis,
NPR,
21 June 2026
Verb
Ever since the Haitian revolutionaries first rebelled against the French in 1791, the proslavery and imperialist powers of Europe and the Americas had a special interest in ensuring that Haiti failed.
—
Julia Gaffield,
The Conversation,
15 June 2026
The musical, which features a rock score, is based on the 1891 play by Frank Wedekind, which follows a group of teenagers in 19th-century Germany who are discovering their sexuality and rebelling against the strict rules set by their parents.
—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebel
Adjective
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This could bring about sudden ideas, or trigger rebellious impulses and creative imagination.
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In 2000 at age 15, he was sent to live in Australia with a host family because his father thought Zhang was too rebellious to stay in China.
Noun
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But what local powers must be surrendered to the insurgent American collectivity?
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The province has been the center of a long-running separatist insurgency, with insurgents demanding independence or greater control over local resources.
Verb
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Luddites revolted against the loom in the 1830s, while newspapers perpetuated the drama.
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The country’s first civil war began on the eve of independence and lasted from 1955 until 1972, when the southerners, who were largely Christian or animists, revolted against the repressive and exploitative control of the government in Khartoum.
Adjective
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To a defiant Son, however, the party hasn’t even started.
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Terri Hupfer, draped in a Pride flag and a Giants’ issued Pride T-shirt, drove 90 minutes from her Delta home to join Tuesday’s pregame gathering, which was organized online and drew more media and police than defiant (or supportive) fans.
Noun
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Some imagery on the shirt, depicting Haitian revolutionaries from the early 1800s, was declared political and therefore not allowed, having fallen foul of FIFA’s often quite stringent rules around kits at World Cups.
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The garments, designed by Stella Jean, a Haitian Italian fashion designer, featured a painting of the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, Dessalines’ fellow revolutionary.
Verb
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Playing an American in a production staffed by Australians, Brits, a Chilean director and a Hispanic DP, her brain kept mutinying.
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Starmer’s premiership is on a knife-edge this week as a significant number of Labour Party MPs have openly mutinied, calling for the PM to resign immediately, or to set out a timetable for his departure.
Cite this Entry
“Rebel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebel. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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