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
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
Mali, along with some neighboring countries, has been battling an influx of armed groups, such as local rebels and allies of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
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
The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 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
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
Mali, along with some neighboring countries, has been battling an influx of armed groups, such as local rebels and allies of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
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
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
-
Yet those soldiers and sailors had to stretch across a vast global canvas, leaving fewer than three in ten of them to try to rout the insurgents in North America.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Subsequent reporting showed how Maduro loyalists infiltrated the training camps of the would-be liberators and betrayed their cause, leading to the execution of six leaders and capture of dozens of insurgents.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Rebels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebels. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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