intifada

noun

in·​ti·​fa·​da ˌin-tə-ˈfä-də 

plural intifadas

: uprising, rebellion

specifically : an armed uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

I was a college student at Tufts University in December 1987, when the first Palestinian intifada began.

—Hady Amr

… in 2000, the second intifada struck with the force of an earthquake. As Palestinians fought Israeli troops, the West Bank became all but ungovernable.

—Karen E. Lange

Examples of intifada in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It was written in the 1980s, during the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising. —Kara Fox, CNN Money, 3 May 2025

The Left has hit on its next big project — an intifada against the country’s largest maker of electric cars. —Rich Lowry, National Review, 14 Mar. 2025

The latest intifada erupted in September 2000, when Ariel Sharon, then the Israeli opposition leader and now the prime minister, visited the al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam, with about one thousand Israeli police officers. —Chris Hedges, Harpers Magazine, 15 June 2024

In 1989 and 1990, the George H.W. Bush Administration promoted negotiations to end the first intifada — a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 1987 — on a land-for-peace basis. —Peter L. Hahn / Made By History, TIME, 6 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Arabic intifāḍa, literally, the act of shaking off

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for intifada

• arthropoda
• theravada
• armada
• entrada
• espada
• hamada
• jornada
• kannada
• posada
• quebrada
• ramada
• sagrada

Kids Definition

intifada

noun

in·​ti·​fa·​da ˌint-ə-ˈfäd-ə 

: uprising, rebellion

Etymology

Arabic intifāda, literally, "the act of shaking off"