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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rebel
Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2025
Nine months after the longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a rebel offensive, Syria faces a litany of new challenges.
—Caroline Rose, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2025
Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
As the conflict wore on, British leaders sought to use troops not just as police, but to intimidate would-be rebels and re-assure the crown’s American supporters.
—Time, 9 Oct. 2025
Benjamin Nathans
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
Set after the Norman invasion of England, Rob (Patten) witnesses the execution of his father, a Saxon forester, which incites him to rebel.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Adjective
The Security Council has been monitoring a 2016 peace accord between the government and what was then the largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, at the government's request.
—Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2025
Nine months after the longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a rebel offensive, Syria faces a litany of new challenges.
—Caroline Rose, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2025
Noun
Ossant added that fashion tends to swing between extremes—tight to loose, tailored to oversized—and that each generation typically rebels against the styles of the one before it.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
As the conflict wore on, British leaders sought to use troops not just as police, but to intimidate would-be rebels and re-assure the crown’s American supporters.
—Time, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
By the early post-World War II period, the demographic cohort most likely to rebel against authority—namely, youth—had been molded by Soviet institutions in which the revolutionary teachings of Marxism-Leninism had achieved the status of sacred canon.
—Benjamin Nathans
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
Set after the Norman invasion of England, Rob (Patten) witnesses the execution of his father, a Saxon forester, which incites him to rebel.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebel
Adjective
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There's just something so irresistible about the lace-up flat with its air of rebellious discipline.—
Alex Sales,
Glamour,
12 Oct. 2025
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Singer Kelis has always been rebellious and non-conforming.—
Elizabeth Ayoola,
Essence,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The best challenger brands think like cultural insurgents.—
Erik Huberman,
Rolling Stone,
10 Oct. 2025
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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
Verb
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If an investor on one of the famous reality TV shows for budding entrepreneurs suggested a similar arrangement, audiences would revolt.—
Matt Emma,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
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The awards can also prompt investors to revolt.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Kurt Caz, a white South African social-media star with millions of followers across platforms, first gained popularity through filming his defiant tours of dangerous neighborhoods in countries such as Venezuela and Kenya.—
T. M. Brown,
New Yorker,
15 Oct. 2025
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In a defiant address to the nation on Monday night, Rajoelina said that he had been forced to move to a safe place because of threats to his life.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Most of the records on the Haitian revolution were written by people who opposed the revolutionaries.—
Julia Gaffield,
The Conversation,
15 Oct. 2025
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The Mexican actor plays revolutionaries in both season 2 of Star Wars series Andor and new movie musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 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 20 Oct. 2025.
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