as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
today's rebel chefs feel free to ignore the dictates of classic French cuisine
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in insurgent
a person who rises up against authority
the rebel would not submit peacefully, even after he was captured
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to revolt
to rise up against established authority
the colonists rebelled in the wake of an onslaught of abuses
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rebel
Danny Makki, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
The future general triumphantly returned to headquarters with the rebel leader's body strapped to the hood of his car.
—Davis Winkie, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025
As regular troops in French service, the British treated them as prisoners of war instead of Jacobite rebels, and eventually repatriated them to France.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Oct. 2025
The New York Times News Service Syndicate, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
In less than a decade, Cabral united more than a million Guineans in the struggle against Portuguese colonial rule, liberating three-quarters of the countryside of Guinea-Bissau and inspiring other African nations to rebel and claim their independence.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Adjective
The palace officials assured them the president was there, hashing out a plan with his military and Russian and Iranian advisers to confront the advancing rebel forces.
—Danny Makki, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
The future general triumphantly returned to headquarters with the rebel leader's body strapped to the hood of his car.
—Davis Winkie, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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
As regular troops in French service, the British treated them as prisoners of war instead of Jacobite rebels, and eventually repatriated them to France.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
By the 1970s and ’80s, the Obituary, like many classic cocktails, had lost popularity among a generation who rebelled against the drinks of their parents, preferring sweeter concoctions like the Long Island Iced Tea and Slippery Nipple.
—The New York Times News Service Syndicate, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
In less than a decade, Cabral united more than a million Guineans in the struggle against Portuguese colonial rule, liberating three-quarters of the countryside of Guinea-Bissau and inspiring other African nations to rebel and claim their independence.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebel
Adjective
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Silicon Valley definitely has so much of that rebellious spirit.—
Andre Byik,
USA Today,
10 Nov. 2025
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On Tracker, Ackles portrays Russell, Colter’s charismatic and rebellious older brother, who has a similar skill set and lack of stable home life.—
Katie Mannion,
PEOPLE,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
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That revelation prodded insurgents in British possessions from Ireland to Sierra Leone to take to the streets to assert their own ambitions for economic and political autonomy over the decades to come.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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Ilana presents herself as a stout-hearted reformer who’s being targeted by fascistic insurgents but is secretly evil enough to engineer an apocalypse.—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This political propaganda is revolting, totally disgusting and perhaps a violation of the Hatch Act.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
28 Oct. 2025
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Users revolted against the change, citing lost AI friendships and romantic relationships with the earlier iteration of the bot.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Cushla’s world is full of defiant spirits, including her mother, a woman struggling with addiction who spends most of her days bound to her living room and the bottom of a bottle.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
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The mayor-elect was defiant in his victory speech.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Each robot, remotely operated, clinks glasses and gestures in unison, embodying the camaraderie and hope of the musical’s revolutionaries.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
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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
Verb
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In 1841, John Quincy Adams stood before the Supreme Court and defended a group of enslaved captives who mutinied aboard the Spanish slave ship Amistad.—
Time,
Time,
24 Sep. 2025
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In 1913, Swiss Guards mutinied for a week in response but eventually received military training as Repond wanted, Alvarez wrote in The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern Vatican.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
7 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rebel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebel. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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