as in insurrection
open fighting against authority (as one's own government) there always seems to be insurgency of some type in that troubled country

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of insurgency Cameroon, with its longstanding Anglophone separatist insurgency and jihadists forcing thousands to flee their homes, is particularly at risk. semafor.com, 10 Oct. 2025 From a violent separatist insurgency in the English-speaking west to entrenched corruption, the country has seen growth stifled despite abundant oil and mineral wealth. Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025 Pinochet was proud of his personal library, with books on guerrilla insurgencies, the writings of Antonio Gramsci and other Marxist theorists, and accounts of communist crimes. Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025 Recent history in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq suggests that insurgencies can wear down regular armies over time. Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for insurgency
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insurgency
Noun
  • There has to be an insurrection in order for him to be allowed to invoke it.
    ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2025
  • First passed in 1792, the federal law gives presidents the power to deploy the military domestically under certain conditions, such as civil disorder, insurrection and armed rebellion.
    Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Former Roanoke women's swim captain Lily Mullens, who led an athlete revolt against the program in 2023 that culminated in a press conference and lawsuit, told Fox News Digital her reaction to Spanberger's answer.
    Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2025
  • The Onondagas support plans announced by the mayor of Syracuse in 2020 to remove the statue of Columbus, an Italian explorer who helped the Spanish establish a colonial foothold in the Caribbean and later suppressed revolts by Indigenous people.
    Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Barghouti has spent more than 20 years in prison and is serving five life sentences after his 2004 conviction for the murder of four Israelis and a Greek Orthodox monk during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
    Yamiche Alcindor, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Krasznahorkai was born in Hungary in 1954, two years before the Soviets viciously crushed an uprising in Budapest, and his first two novels are soaked through with an atmosphere of political terror.
    Walt Hunter, The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But things change the next morning when all of the clans light burning crosses in a call to action to join the Jacobite rebellion — a call that Brian must answer or face being labeled a traitor.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Oct. 2025
  • His effort to suppress the rebellion and restore federal authority marked the beginning of the Civil War.
    Josh Meyer, USA Today, 11 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Playoffs have been under the shadow of league star Napheesa Collier speaking with pointed criticism of commissioner Cathy Engelbert in what amounts to a mutiny against the commish, with other players backing Collier.
    Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2025
  • But to the enslaved Africans transported on these ships, that mermaid was a symbol of righteous rebellion and holy mutinies.
    Time, Time, 8 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Insurgency.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insurgency. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on insurgency

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!