FIREBRANDS Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

firebrands

noun

plural of firebrand

as in rebels

a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent a firebrand who urged crowds to riot during the blackouts

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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 firebrands Since arriving on the scene almost a decade ago, the trio have presented themselves as firebrands, ready to stick it to an establishment seeking to strangle the last remnants of 20th century Irish republicanism. —

Dean Van Nguyen, Pitchfork, 30 Apr. 2026 An unexpectedly and profoundly unnecessary high price for the incendiary firebrands of the destructive new left. —

Bob Ehrlich, Baltimore Sun, 10 Mar. 2026 Ken Paxton and Jasmine Crockett, both firebrands within their respective party primaries, are slated to watch results roll in just a mile apart in central Dallas. —

Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle, 3 Mar. 2026 Inmates including Sam Bankman-Fried and Harvey Weinstein have turned to such right-wing firebrands as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens to present alternative narratives to their cases. —

Andrew Zucker, HollywoodReporter, 13 Feb. 2026 In the 1980s, right-wing firebrands such as Jerry Falwell and Anita Bryant claimed that the AIDS epidemic was a plague sent by God to punish gay people. —

Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026 Trump’s proposal echoes a long-standing push by progressive Democrats and a few conservative firebrands on Capitol Hill to implement credit card interest rate caps, which would limit the fee a card issuer can charge consumers who carry a balance past their due date. —

Sudiksha Kochi, The Hill, 15 Jan. 2026 While Collier and Stewart have accepted the duty to be labor firebrands, one of their UConn teammates, Morgan Tuck, is making her mark on the management side, as the youngest GM in the WNBA. —

Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 15 Jan. 2026 That includes collaborations in-the-round with Denver’s Nathaniel Rateliff and DeVotchKa, as well as indie firebrands The Flaming Lips, in addition to standard orchestral fare and familiar classical-crossover acts such as Andrea Bocelli and Lindsey Stirling. —

John Wenzel, Denver Post, 23 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for firebrands

Noun

Mali was struck late last month by one of the biggest coordinated attacks on its army in Bamako and several other cities by jihadis and rebels who seized several towns and military bases.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026
The rebels were fully aware of these other colonies and sought to include them.

— Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 May 2026