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
Barry Strauss, Time, 21 Oct. 2025
Currently Colombia’s security forces are facing their biggest threat since the 2016 peace deal with FARC rebels, fighting a slew of powerful armed groups tied to the narcotics trade.
—Alfie Pannell, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
The Moscow meeting was remarkable given that Russia is harboring Syria’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, whose government was overthrown by rebels led by al-Sharaa.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 17 Oct. 2025
The rebels, apparently satisfied with their loot, paid no mind as the women got into the second car, joining one of the Assad regime’s most notorious henchmen.
—Danny Makki, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
During his training period, he and his friends were captured by armed Kurdish rebels and held for about 80 days.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2025
In Syria, rebels overthrew Assad last year, Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah and Hamas’ top leaders, while Iraqi militant groups faded into the background.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2025
In Valentin's case, his love for Molina, and in Cassian's, his love for adoptive mother, Maarva (Fiona Shaw), girlfriend Bix (Adria Arjona), and the other rebels with whom he's aligned himself.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Oct. 2025
Throughout the 1970s, as much as Nicholson’s rebels or Beatty’s hopeless romantics, Keaton’s optimistic dreamers repeatedly collided with the realities of the times, measuring the distance between what the counterculture thought was possible and what the world would actually allow.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2025
The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
Noun
The Romans were masters at using rewards and punishment to manage foreign states, from grants of citizenship to massacres of rebels.
—Barry Strauss, Time, 21 Oct. 2025
Currently Colombia’s security forces are facing their biggest threat since the 2016 peace deal with FARC rebels, fighting a slew of powerful armed groups tied to the narcotics trade.
—Alfie Pannell, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
The Moscow meeting was remarkable given that Russia is harboring Syria’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, whose government was overthrown by rebels led by al-Sharaa.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 17 Oct. 2025
The rebels, apparently satisfied with their loot, paid no mind as the women got into the second car, joining one of the Assad regime’s most notorious henchmen.
—Danny Makki, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
During his training period, he and his friends were captured by armed Kurdish rebels and held for about 80 days.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2025
In Syria, rebels overthrew Assad last year, Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah and Hamas’ top leaders, while Iraqi militant groups faded into the background.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2025
In Valentin's case, his love for Molina, and in Cassian's, his love for adoptive mother, Maarva (Fiona Shaw), girlfriend Bix (Adria Arjona), and the other rebels with whom he's aligned himself.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Oct. 2025
Throughout the 1970s, as much as Nicholson’s rebels or Beatty’s hopeless romantics, Keaton’s optimistic dreamers repeatedly collided with the realities of the times, measuring the distance between what the counterculture thought was possible and what the world would actually allow.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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
-
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
Noun
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Rebels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebels. Accessed 25 Oct. 2025.
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