INSURGENTS Synonyms: 28 Similar and Opposite Words

insurgents

noun

plural of insurgent

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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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 insurgents The incumbents built their dominance in a training-centric world that is giving way to an inference-centric one, and that transition is where insurgents find room. — Steve McDowell, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026 But if the conversation is framed simply as insurgents versus the establishment, something important gets lost. — Basil Smikle, New York Daily News, 25 June 2026 As left-wing insurgents make inroads in New York and elsewhere, their campaigns are confronting legacy institutions led by people of color. — ABC News, 28 June 2026 Two very different—and very close—insurgents Warshaw’s path to this race runs through the places where New York’s biggest problems actually live. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 22 June 2026 Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long seen clashes between security forces, insurgents and drug smugglers. — Alex Sundby, CBS News, 30 June 2026 In 2022, French forces departed Mali as insurgents made incursions into the capital, Bamako. — Kaitlyn Rabe, The Conversation, 16 June 2026 But Warsaw and Kyiv are locked in a row over Ukraine renaming a military unit after World War II insurgents that killed thousands of Poles. — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 25 June 2026 Nine American soldiers died and 27 others were injured while fighting a battle against 200 Taliban insurgents in the village of Wanat in Afghanistan’s Waygal Valley. — USA Today, 29 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for insurgents

Noun

And the old person who rebels is ridiculous.

— Merve Emre, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
There was relative peace for 11 years, until a second civil war erupted in 1983, when leaders in Khartoum imposed sharia (Islamic) law and accelerated repression of the southern Christian rebels, which ultimately allowed a ruthless military officer, Omar al-Bashir, to come to power in 1989.

— Janine di Giovanni, Vanity Fair, 25 June 2026

Definition of rebels

Noun

Or was July 4, 1776, for the revolutionaries who founded the US, actually an undistinguished day?

— Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 3 July 2026
Trade the tricorn hats, bonnets and homespun shirts for flip flops, sneakers and soccer jerseys, and the intrepid revolutionaries of 1776 would have looked a lot like the people of 2026.

— Katherine Ott, The Conversation, 2 July 2026

Definition of revolutionaries

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insurgent

insurgents

insuring

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“Insurgents.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insurgents. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of insurgents

noun

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