rev·o·lu·tion·ary
ˌre-və-ˈlü-shə-ˌner-ē 
1
a
: of, relating to, or constituting a revolution
revolutionary war
b
: tending to or promoting revolution
c
: constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change
a revolutionary new product
2
capitalized
: of or relating to the American Revolution or to the period in which it occurred
plural revolutionaries
1
: one engaged in a revolution
2
: an advocate or adherent of revolutionary doctrines
Synonyms
Examples of revolutionary in a Sentence
Adjective
a candidate with a lot of crazy, revolutionary ideas that no one seems to be going for
revolutionary forces that were soundly defeated before reaching the capital
Noun
after the collapse of the Russian monarchy, the moderate socialists briefly governed until being overthrown by the Bolshevik revolutionaries
at first the government was not worried about this small band of unarmed revolutionaries
Recent Examples on the Web
Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024
And Boeing’s primacy in the industry was built on revolutionary leaps, such as the 707 and 747.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
The revolutionary wave Khomeini hoped for never materialized.
—Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2024
Shuttle’s legacy Over the course of three decades, NASA’s fleet of space shuttles flew 135 missions — launching and repairing satellites, building a permanent home for astronauts with the International Space Station and commissioning the revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
By the early 1950s, Norton Healthcare had taken yet another revolutionary step, creating a health care unit focused on alcoholism and treating it as a disease — something that wouldn't become a conventional part of health care for a few more decades.
—Olivia Evans, The Courier-Journal, 4 Apr. 2024
The production model will be equipped with a revolutionary Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE), though.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 2 Apr. 2024
Walking up the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a guest at the Costume Institute’s Met Gala was a revolutionary act.
—Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
This pattern, of looking to the colonizer to justify the actions of the colonized, shows up consistently in these revolutionary years, as if Fanon, despite being once convinced by existentialism of his own boundless freedom, is trapped in a mirror.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
TIME, 9 Apr. 2024
Shatz openly admires the Martinican psychiatrist turned Algerian revolutionary.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
Some conservatives in the United States are heralding the opening scene on X, where an elderly professor refuses to acquiesce to demands by young revolutionaries to change his thinking.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Mar. 2024
Black theologians like the Rev. Albert Cleage have depicted Jesus as a man of color and a revolutionary.
—John Blake, CNN, 31 Mar. 2024
Back then, the new gizmo would have been considered nothing short of revolutionary.
—Leslie Katz, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Though Black westerns had existed before Buck, this storyline—Black and Native Americans joining forces to oppose white supremacy—made the movie revolutionary, says Mia Mask, a film studies scholar at Vassar College and the author of Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024
Best known for his midnight ride to warn the American revolutionaries of the incoming British armies, Paul Revere was both a revolutionary himself and a master silversmith, and for those hoping to honor his legacy, there’s no better base than the Revere Hotel.
—Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
The evolution from traditional dental practices to digital methods has been nothing short of revolutionary.
—Chris Gallagher, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Devgn stars as Syed Abdul Rahim, whose revolutionary coaching and strategy methods led the Indian national soccer team to gold medals in the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games and a semi-final berth at the 1956 Olympics.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024
And Boeing’s primacy in the industry was built on revolutionary leaps, such as the 707 and 747.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
The revolutionary wave Khomeini hoped for never materialized.
—Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2024
Shuttle’s legacy Over the course of three decades, NASA’s fleet of space shuttles flew 135 missions — launching and repairing satellites, building a permanent home for astronauts with the International Space Station and commissioning the revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
By the early 1950s, Norton Healthcare had taken yet another revolutionary step, creating a health care unit focused on alcoholism and treating it as a disease — something that wouldn't become a conventional part of health care for a few more decades.
—Olivia Evans, The Courier-Journal, 4 Apr. 2024
The production model will be equipped with a revolutionary Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE), though.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 2 Apr. 2024
Walking up the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a guest at the Costume Institute’s Met Gala was a revolutionary act.
—Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
This pattern, of looking to the colonizer to justify the actions of the colonized, shows up consistently in these revolutionary years, as if Fanon, despite being once convinced by existentialism of his own boundless freedom, is trapped in a mirror.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
Noun
However, the historical record shows that Garza was more than just an anti-imperialist revolutionary.
—TIME, 9 Apr. 2024
Shatz openly admires the Martinican psychiatrist turned Algerian revolutionary.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
Some conservatives in the United States are heralding the opening scene on X, where an elderly professor refuses to acquiesce to demands by young revolutionaries to change his thinking.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Mar. 2024
Black theologians like the Rev. Albert Cleage have depicted Jesus as a man of color and a revolutionary.
—John Blake, CNN, 31 Mar. 2024
Back then, the new gizmo would have been considered nothing short of revolutionary.
—Leslie Katz, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Though Black westerns had existed before Buck, this storyline—Black and Native Americans joining forces to oppose white supremacy—made the movie revolutionary, says Mia Mask, a film studies scholar at Vassar College and the author of Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024
Best known for his midnight ride to warn the American revolutionaries of the incoming British armies, Paul Revere was both a revolutionary himself and a master silversmith, and for those hoping to honor his legacy, there’s no better base than the Revere Hotel.
—Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
The evolution from traditional dental practices to digital methods has been nothing short of revolutionary.
—Chris Gallagher, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'revolutionary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near revolutionary
Cite this Entry
“Revolutionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revolutionary. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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