as in insurrections
open fighting against authority (as one's own government)
there always seems to be insurgency of some type in that troubled country
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Recent Examples of insurgencies
By then the Defense Department had also been sharing with Venezuelans a secret plan to foment insurgencies called Operation X Zone.
—
Kevin G. Hall, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
The country has for decades grappled with complex security challenges, particularly Islamist insurgencies such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 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
Unlike some other ethnic armed organizations leading insurgencies against the junta, the KNA is a pro-junta militia formally folded into the army’s command.
—Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
The area has been engulfed in decades-long conflict between armed ethnic groups and the Burmese authorities, who are now fighting multiple insurgencies following the 2021 military coup and its violent crackdown on opposition forces.
—Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
With the exception of some far-right voices, few in Israel want to be stuck in Gaza forever, responsible for 3 million Palestinians and facing likely insurgencies.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 17 Oct. 2024
Kevin G. Hall, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
The country has for decades grappled with complex security challenges, particularly Islamist insurgencies such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 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
Unlike some other ethnic armed organizations leading insurgencies against the junta, the KNA is a pro-junta militia formally folded into the army’s command.
—Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
The area has been engulfed in decades-long conflict between armed ethnic groups and the Burmese authorities, who are now fighting multiple insurgencies following the 2021 military coup and its violent crackdown on opposition forces.
—Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
With the exception of some far-right voices, few in Israel want to be stuck in Gaza forever, responsible for 3 million Palestinians and facing likely insurgencies.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 17 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insurgencies
Noun
-
Wars and insurrections have afflicted other parts of the Middle East, but Baghdad—a city whose name was once synonymous with suicide bombings and sectarian murder—has been spared.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
28 Oct. 2025
-
The president can also legally invoke the military under the Insurrection Act, which allows troops to be deployed in order to curb insurrections.—
Alison Durkee,
Forbes.com,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Pervasive disregard for the orders to integrate facilities fueled violent race rebellions across the country in the summer of 1943.—
Time,
Time,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The display is typically only removed in cases of high treason or rebellions against the Crown, according to The Sun.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Midterm elections will see congressional battlegrounds in states where fast-rising electric bills or data center hotspots — or both — are fomenting community uprisings.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Altogether more than 1,000 Israelis were killed in those uprisings, along with many times that number of Palestinians.—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
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
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Peasant revolts have been a thing right alongside revolutionary history the entire time.—
Nikki McCann Ramirez,
Rolling Stone,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This includes leader assassination attempts by political opponents or lone wolves or mutinies by disgruntled soldiers who might even march on the presidential palace to demand higher pay, promotions or other policy concessions.—
John Joseph Chin,
The Conversation,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insurgencies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insurgencies. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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