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
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has successfully recruited prized political heavyweights in key battlegrounds, but left-wing insurgents are threatening to dash his plans to create a competitive midterm map for Democrats.
—
Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 26 Oct. 2025
The best challenger brands think like cultural insurgents.
—Erik Huberman, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2025
Islamist insurgents have since May attacked Malian and foreign-owned businesses, including cement factories, sugar factories, and mines.
—Preeti Jha, semafor.com, 10 Oct. 2025
Like the Industrial Revolution-era insurgents, the new Luddites are not anti-technology but anti-exploitation, the tech journalist Brian Merchant tells me.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
Labels matter Security analysts say the situation in Haiti continues to defy clear international legal characterization and the choice of labels – crisis, armed conflict, gangs, terrorist groups, armed groups, criminal groups, insurgents – carries significant legal and humanitarian implications.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025
This might enable a mission which, for example, a Viper is located covertly next to a safe house known to be used by insurgents.
—David Hambling, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The state Republicans have routinely witnessed battles between far-right insurgents who in recent years have complained the party isn’t Trumpy enough and the financial institutional wing that has long been the GOP establishment and funded the party for decades.
—Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2025
At least nine Christians in the Cabo Delgado province were reportedly killed in separate attacks by Islamic insurgents during that timeframe.
—Danielle Wallace, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 26 Oct. 2025
The best challenger brands think like cultural insurgents.
—Erik Huberman, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2025
Islamist insurgents have since May attacked Malian and foreign-owned businesses, including cement factories, sugar factories, and mines.
—Preeti Jha, semafor.com, 10 Oct. 2025
Like the Industrial Revolution-era insurgents, the new Luddites are not anti-technology but anti-exploitation, the tech journalist Brian Merchant tells me.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
Labels matter Security analysts say the situation in Haiti continues to defy clear international legal characterization and the choice of labels – crisis, armed conflict, gangs, terrorist groups, armed groups, criminal groups, insurgents – carries significant legal and humanitarian implications.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025
This might enable a mission which, for example, a Viper is located covertly next to a safe house known to be used by insurgents.
—David Hambling, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The state Republicans have routinely witnessed battles between far-right insurgents who in recent years have complained the party isn’t Trumpy enough and the financial institutional wing that has long been the GOP establishment and funded the party for decades.
—Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2025
At least nine Christians in the Cabo Delgado province were reportedly killed in separate attacks by Islamic insurgents during that timeframe.
—Danielle Wallace, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insurgents
Noun
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Young Ofelia and her pregnant mother have been brought to live in the countryside, where her brutal stepfather Captain Vidal’s job is to wipe out the remaining rebels camped in the local forest.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
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The apparent killing – captured on video shared online by the rebels themselves – took place at a university medical school in El Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took over the city on Sunday.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Paul’s youth and vigor comes with lots of risk, the work of prior revolutionaries threatened to be set back many years.—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
28 Oct. 2025
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At the time, the French people reporting on the ground and from abroad held Dessalines and other Haitian revolutionaries to a different standard.—
Julia Gaffield,
The Conversation,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insurgents.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insurgents. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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