mutiny

1 of 2

noun

mu·​ti·​ny ˈmyü-tə-nē How to pronounce mutiny (audio)
ˈmyüt-nē
plural mutinies
1
: forcible or passive resistance to lawful authority
especially : concerted (see concerted sense 1) revolt (as of a naval crew) against discipline or a superior officer
The sailors staged a mutiny and took control of the ship.
2
obsolete : tumult, strife

mutiny

2 of 2

verb

mutinied; mutinying; mutinies

intransitive verb

: to rise against or refuse to obey or observe authority
He mutinied not just against God but against the older generation of Romanian intellectuals.Will Blythe
specifically, of soldiers, sailors, etc. : to rebel against military authority : to stage a mutiny
Months wore on, and about half of [Christopher] Columbus's men mutinied and tried to sail by canoe to Hispaniola. Owen Gingerich
In April 1779 a draft of sixty men from the 71st Highlanders mutinied when they were told they were to go to America and refused to march aboard the transports. Christopher Hibbert
Choose the Right Synonym for mutiny

rebellion, revolution, uprising, revolt, insurrection, mutiny mean an outbreak against authority.

rebellion implies an open formidable resistance that is often unsuccessful.

open rebellion against the officers

revolution applies to a successful rebellion resulting in a major change (as in government).

a political revolution that toppled the monarchy

uprising implies a brief, limited, and often immediately ineffective rebellion.

quickly put down the uprising

revolt and insurrection imply an armed uprising that quickly fails or succeeds.

a revolt by the Young Turks that surprised party leaders
an insurrection of oppressed laborers

mutiny applies to group insubordination or insurrection especially against naval authority.

a mutiny led by the ship's cook

Examples of mutiny in a Sentence

Noun The mutiny was led by the ship's cook. The sailors staged a mutiny and took control of the ship.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The story of the shipwreck of an 18th century British warship and a mutiny among the survivors. The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Another reported a mutiny on board, apparently led by those same troops. Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024 In 2016, the GOP watched as Trump slogged to the nomination with the likes of Ted Cruz nipping at him and threatening a delegate mutiny. TIME, 16 Jan. 2024 After Wagner mutiny, Navalny asks why he, not Prigozhin, is jailed The Kremlin engineered support for the war through a massive propaganda effort insisting that Russia was not the aggressor. Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2023 The story of the shipwreck of an 18th-century British warship and a mutiny among the survivors. The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2024 Since Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former head of the Wagner paramilitary company, halted his June 2023 mutiny, Russia has only doubled down on its ambition to compete with the West globally. Jack Watling, Foreign Affairs, 3 Jan. 2024 There were some other problems early on as well, but what a difference a mutiny makes. Dalton Ross, EW.com, 22 Dec. 2023 In 2012, the inmates staged one of the largest prison mutinies in modern Russian history, a peaceful rooftop sit-in that was violently repressed by the police days later. Oleg Matsnev Gray Beltran, New York Times, 4 Dec. 2023
Verb
Within days, however, Congo’s troops mutinied against their all-white officer corps (a holdover from the colonial era) and started terrorizing the European population. Stephen R. Weissman, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2014 After the officer in charge hanged one of the men, the crew mutinied, built their own ship, and sailed home, abandoning the fort some 11 months after their arrival. Shanti Menon, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Jackie Calmes: McCarthy flopped, Gaetz mutinied, but blame the chaos on the entire Republican Party. Helen Li, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2023 More recently, Tytler and his young wife, Harriet Tytler—she eight months pregnant, with two small children at her side—had narrowly escaped Delhi in 1857, when the sepoys, or Indian infantrymen, mutinied. Adam Goodheart, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Sep. 2023 Facing an uncertain future, many Russians have moved their savings abroad since the outbreak of the war, transferring more than a billion dollars' worth in three days of national upheaval in late June, according to the central bank, when Wagner mercenaries mutinied against the military. Anatoly Kurmanaev, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2023 The United States, the United Nations, the European Union and regional bodies called on the mutinying soldiers to stand down. Declan Walsh, New York Times, 26 July 2023 Even before the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin mutinied against Putin, this was a questionable assumption. Samuel Charap, Foreign Affairs, 13 July 2023 In February 1915, Indian soldiers mutinied in Singapore following rumors that they would soon be sent to Egypt to fight fellow Muslims of the Ottoman Empire. Adom Getachew, Foreign Affairs, 22 June 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mutiny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

mutine to rebel, from Middle French (se) mutiner, from mutin mutinous, from meute revolt, from Vulgar Latin *movita, from feminine of movitus, alteration of Latin motus, past participle of movēre to move

First Known Use

Noun

1540, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1584, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mutiny was in 1540

Dictionary Entries Near mutiny

Cite this Entry

“Mutiny.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mutiny. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mutiny

noun
mu·​ti·​ny ˈmyüt-ᵊn-ē How to pronounce mutiny (audio)
ˈmyüt-nē
plural mutinies
: refusal to obey authority
especially : a military outbreak against the officer in charge
mutiny verb

More from Merriam-Webster on mutiny

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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