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insurgent 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of insurgentnext
as in revolutionary
taking part in a rebellion any insurgent soldiers will be dealt with harshly

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

insurgent

2 of 2

noun

in-ˈsər-jənt How to pronounce insurgent (audio)
as in rebel
a person who rises up against authority the government subjected the insurgents to the most inhuman torture imaginable

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 insurgent
Adjective
Spencer Pratt, once the villain of the 2000s MTV reality show The Hills and now an insurgent candidate in this year’s Los Angeles mayoral race, had a breakthrough moment in his first debate performance last Wednesday. — Miles Klee, Wired News, 15 May 2026 The Republican is seeking a sixth term of six years this fall in what is expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races against insurgent 41-year-old oysterman and veteran Graham Platner, a Democrat. — Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 7 May 2026
Noun
Many were built during the post-9/11 Global War on Terror, when major military hubs sat well behind a lot of the fighting and insurgent groups had little ability to threaten from the air. — Steven Beynon, ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026 The win marks the latest example of an insurgent Democrat pulling off a victory in the primary over a more moderate opponent with a significant cash advantage. — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for insurgent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insurgent
  1. revolutionary
  2. rebel
  3. rebellious
  4. traitorous
  5. insurrectionary
  6. treacherous
  7. mutinous
Adjective
  • As Deadline announced in 2023, when the film was in development, the screenplay is based on the life of Puerto Rican revolutionary José Maldonado Román, known as Águila Blanca (White Eagle), set in the late 19th century.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Traditionalists scoffed at the ‘plastic’ boats, but the Swan 36 featured a revolutionary underwater design.
    — Andrew Rice, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of revolutionary
Noun
  • As Houthi rebels closed in, Eshraq Abdel Gelil and her husband fled their home, walking through the mountains before catching a ride to a nearby city.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Saudi Arabia struggles to rally support With the world’s biggest oil exporter under fire from rebels backed by the Saudis’ regional adversary, the kingdom needs a safe outlet for its crude as well as military assistance.
    — Samy Magdy, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of rebel
Adjective
  • The tech world has always had a self-consciously rebellious relationship with societal norms.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Costarring Katey Sagal, Amy Davidson, James Garner, and David Spade, the series followed the futile attempts of Ritter’s Paul Hennessy and Sagal’s Cate Hennessy to tame their rebellious teenage daughter, Bridget (Cuoco).
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of rebellious
Adjective
  • Telemachus’ lone contribution is killing Melanthius, the traitorous Ithacan farmhand, thus preventing him from continuing to arm the suitors.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 17 July 2026
  • And at the very center of Hell is Satan himself, the traitorous Archangel Lucifer, depicted as a monstrous creature with wings and three heads.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 11 May 2026
Definition of traitorous
Adjective
  • The people who joined were not there at the behest of a political organization but were drawn, like pilgrims to hip pilgrimage sites, by the promise of an insurrectionary pleasure.
    — Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026
  • The Iranian regime was, if not on the ropes, then in very serious trouble as recently as January, when, amid a terrible economic situation with an eviscerated middle class, a large proportion of the population—disgruntled, unhappy, insurrectionary, revolutionary—came out to protest on the streets.
    — Daniel Drake, The New York Review of Books, 16 May 2026
Definition of insurrectionary
Adjective
  • International skullduggery in this case concerned the retrieving of two nuclear warheads from a treacherous Caribbean dictatorship.
    — Ed Olmstead, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Bryan, without chains on his tires, drives up a treacherous farm-country road in the snowy night, which lends the movie a fairy-tale atmosphere.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of treacherous
Adjective
  • Such mutinous talk only heightened conservative Justices’ sense that the barbarians were storming the gate.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Somehow, against that mutinous backdrop, a sense of stability arrived.
    — Oliver Kay, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of mutinous

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Cite this Entry

“Insurgent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insurgent. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

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