as in insurgents
a person who rises up against authority
the rebel would not submit peacefully, even after he was captured
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
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
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
Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 1 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 in the beginning of the 20th century, the work revolves around the fortunes of titular Fleur, a young girl who rebels against her life in a slum on the outskirts of Paris and seeks out the bright lights of the Belle Epoque capital.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 1 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
-
Syria’s al-Assad went down after Israel gutted Lebanese Hezbollah, following which Turkish aided and directed insurgents representing a minority of the country marched into Damascus.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
-
The failing economy would accomplish what [Cowley] and his fellow literary insurgents had been unable to.—
Vince Passaro,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Parts of the movie were adapted from the novel Vineland, and some of the radical groups and revolutionaries were loosely inspired by real-life movements from the 1960s and 1970s.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
21 Dec. 2025
-
Sometimes revolutionaries come on the scene, guiding how mathematicians think about a particular field for generations.—
Jordana Cepelewicz,
Quanta Magazine,
18 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rebels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebels. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share