REBELS Synonyms: 49 Similar and Opposite Words

rebels 1 of 2

noun

plural of rebel

as in insurgents

a person who rises up against authority the rebel would not submit peacefully, even after he was captured

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rebels

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of rebel

as in revolts

to rise up against established authority the colonists rebelled in the wake of an onslaught of abuses

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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 rebels

Noun

The 11-year-old Batisa said his parents and two of his brothers were killed in an attack by Congolese rebels. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026 The Houthi rebels announced a maritime blockade of the Yemeni government's backer Saudi Arabia -- which has led a coalition that heavily bombed Houthi areas throughout the war. — August 18, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026 The axis included not just the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, but Yemen’s Houthi rebels, militias in Syria and Iraq and the government of Syria’s then-dictator Bashar Assad. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026 In it, a twelve-year-old boy, Cosimo, rebels against his aristocratic family, and the Enlightenment’s false divide between nature and culture, by climbing a holm oak and spending his life in the canopy. — Eric Klinenberg, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 Tehran gave its full support to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which rebels who were backed by Ankara and Riyadh overthrew in 2024. — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026 Assad secretly fled Syria the night before rebels seized Damascus, taking refuge in Moscow with his family. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 11 Aug. 2026 But in 2024, rebels led by now-President Ahmed al-Sharaa swept across Syria in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks. — Kinda Makieh, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 The conflict in the Middle East has expanded over recent days, with tensions between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia ramping up. — Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026

Verb

Masahiro Motoki — the Oscar-winning star of Departures — plays a lord who rebels against warlord Oda Nobunaga and barricades himself inside Arioka Castle, only to face a string of unsolved murders within its walls. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026 Set against the backdrop of the 1998 São Paulo World Cup between Brazil and France, Amarela follows 14-year-old Erika Oguihara (Melissa Uehara), a Japanese Brazilian sports fanatic who rebels against her family’s more Japanese cultural traditions. — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 10 Jan. 2026 As the professor navigates retirement, the baby grows into a rambunctious child who rebels against the traditions of her fishing community. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebels

Noun

Continue reading … DEM CIVIL WAR — Left-wing insurgents battle moderates Tuesday in races that could flip the House.

— , FOXNews.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan — initially their most important partner — are tense, as Islamabad accuses Kabul of supporting Pakistani insurgents.

— Reuters, NBC news, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of insurgents

Noun

Centrist Democrats are not socialists, not revolutionaries, and not disposed to blame Zionist conspiracies for every trouble in American life, including police brutality and urban gentrification.

— David Frum, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2026
To make matters worse, ten days later, revolutionaries stormed the Bastille.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026