as in insurgents
a person who rises up against authority
the rebel would not submit peacefully, even after he was captured
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in revolts
to rise up against established authority
the colonists rebelled in the wake of an onslaught of abuses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rebels
Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026
He's accused of running a network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 5 Jan. 2026
The rebels and Democratic leaders can force a vote on the matter in mid-January.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 4 Jan. 2026
Sandinista rebels ride a small tank in the main square of Managua, Nicaragua on June 20, 1979.
—CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
Despite these restrictions, the Reagan administration secretly continued aiding the group through a scheme that illegally sold weapons to Iran and funneled the proceeds to the Nicaraguan rebels.
—Scott Neuman, NPR, 2 Jan. 2026
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
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
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
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
Noun
By providing only air cover for the rebels, our intervention left the situation on the ground to the local competing forces, tribes and militias, which were divided then and remain divided to this day.
—Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026
He's accused of running a network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 5 Jan. 2026
The rebels and Democratic leaders can force a vote on the matter in mid-January.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 4 Jan. 2026
Sandinista rebels ride a small tank in the main square of Managua, Nicaragua on June 20, 1979.
—CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
Despite these restrictions, the Reagan administration secretly continued aiding the group through a scheme that illegally sold weapons to Iran and funneled the proceeds to the Nicaraguan rebels.
—Scott Neuman, NPR, 2 Jan. 2026
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
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
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
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
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Even that 2016 victory didn’t last long — Assad was unceremoniously forced out of the country by insurgents in 2024, settling in Moscow for a quiet life in exile.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Jan. 2026
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In the eighties, Petro was a member of the M-19, urban insurgents who caught the world’s attention by taking the American Ambassador and more than a dozen other foreign diplomats hostage for two months.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Leader of the Pink Tide Chávez, a former army officer inspired by Marxist thinkers and revolutionaries such as Simón Bolivar and Fidel Castro, was one of the most consequential political figures in recent Latin American history.—
Ian James,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Jan. 2026
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The first generation of Iranian revolutionaries—including octogenarians like Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—have long fooled themselves about their future.—
Robin Wright,
New Yorker,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rebels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebels. Accessed 23 Jan. 2026.
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