as in rebels
a person who rises up against authority
the government subjected the insurgents to the most inhuman torture imaginable
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Recent Examples of insurgents
Authorities in the southwestern province are battling one of the deadliest flare-ups in years, as insurgents in the resource-rich province bordering Iran and Afghanistan step up assaults on security forces, civilians and infrastructure.
—
Reuters, NBC news, 1 Feb. 2026
Nigeria’s military killed a top Boko Haram commander and 10 insurgents in a night raid in the northeastern state of Borno.
—Dyepkazah Shibayan, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2026
Pakistan's security forces have raided two militant hideouts in the country's southwest, killing 41 insurgents in separate gun battles, the military said Friday.
—Arkansas Online, 31 Jan. 2026
Those efforts, combined with security operations against both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias, weakened al-Qaeda between 2007 and 2009, allowing al-Maliki to consolidate power.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Jan. 2026
Israel — home to more Holocaust survivors than any other country — marks its remembrance day, Yom HaShoah, on the anniversary of the April 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, emphasizing the heroism of the Jewish insurgents who resisted the Nazi terror.
—Vanessa Gera, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
Even that 2016 victory didn’t last long — Assad was unceremoniously forced out of the country by insurgents in 2024, settling in Moscow for a quiet life in exile.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 18 Jan. 2026
In the eighties, Petro was a member of the M-19, urban insurgents who caught the world’s attention by taking the American Ambassador and more than a dozen other foreign diplomats hostage for two months.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2026
Syria’s al-Assad went down after Israel gutted Lebanese Hezbollah, following which Turkish aided and directed insurgents representing a minority of the country marched into Damascus.
—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
Reuters, NBC news, 1 Feb. 2026
Nigeria’s military killed a top Boko Haram commander and 10 insurgents in a night raid in the northeastern state of Borno.
—Dyepkazah Shibayan, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2026
Pakistan's security forces have raided two militant hideouts in the country's southwest, killing 41 insurgents in separate gun battles, the military said Friday.
—Arkansas Online, 31 Jan. 2026
Those efforts, combined with security operations against both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias, weakened al-Qaeda between 2007 and 2009, allowing al-Maliki to consolidate power.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Jan. 2026
Israel — home to more Holocaust survivors than any other country — marks its remembrance day, Yom HaShoah, on the anniversary of the April 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, emphasizing the heroism of the Jewish insurgents who resisted the Nazi terror.
—Vanessa Gera, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
Even that 2016 victory didn’t last long — Assad was unceremoniously forced out of the country by insurgents in 2024, settling in Moscow for a quiet life in exile.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 18 Jan. 2026
In the eighties, Petro was a member of the M-19, urban insurgents who caught the world’s attention by taking the American Ambassador and more than a dozen other foreign diplomats hostage for two months.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2026
Syria’s al-Assad went down after Israel gutted Lebanese Hezbollah, following which Turkish aided and directed insurgents representing a minority of the country marched into Damascus.
—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insurgents
Noun
-
Aleppo had fallen to the rebels by the time Assad landed back in Damascus.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
-
According to a United Nations report, since seizing Rubaya, the rebels have imposed taxes on the trade and transport of coltan, generating at least $800,000 a month.—
Justin Kabumba,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
With that mental reframing, the American (and then French and other) revolutionaries changed not just their own country, but the world.—
Andreas Kluth,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Rahman is positioning himself as a bridge between a political aristocracy that dates back to Bangladesh’s liberation struggle and the aspirations of its young revolutionaries.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Insurgents.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insurgents. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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