as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
today's rebel chefs feel free to ignore the dictates of classic French cuisine
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in insurgent
a person who rises up against authority
the rebel would not submit peacefully, even after he was captured
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to revolt
to rise up against established authority
the colonists rebelled in the wake of an onslaught of abuses
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rebel
Alan Bradley, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Aside from games like volleyball and dominoes, Gach says some children stage fake ambushes on one another while pretending to be government forces or rebel fighters.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 5 Oct. 2025
Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 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
Big Think, 10 Oct. 2025
The Arts and Crafts movement rebelled against factory drudgery and mass production.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Adjective
While the Terrans struggle to suppress a rebel faction incensed by humanity's alliance with the alien Vasudans, they're caught unawares by the return of an existential threat to the peace-loving species of the galaxy.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Aside from games like volleyball and dominoes, Gach says some children stage fake ambushes on one another while pretending to be government forces or rebel fighters.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 5 Oct. 2025
Noun
What’s the rebel’s latest cause?
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 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
Otherwise, the only alternative is rebelling against the government.
—Big Think, 10 Oct. 2025
The Arts and Crafts movement rebelled against factory drudgery and mass production.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rebel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebel
Adjective
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According to the researchers, teenage men tend to favor intense, rebellious genres that fuel identity and independence in a phase that peaks early.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
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But the couple have yet to conceive an heir, so when Jerome absconds and his dashing friend Manfred (Galitzine) arrives with dastardly intentions, Hero (Corrin), Cherry’s wily and loyal maid, is forced to concoct a plan to distract Manfred by telling captivating stories about rebellious women.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
Verb
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Users revolted against the change, citing lost AI friendships and romantic relationships with the earlier iteration of the bot.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
19 Oct. 2025
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If an investor on one of the famous reality TV shows for budding entrepreneurs suggested a similar arrangement, audiences would revolt.—
Matt Emma,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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On Monday afternoon, Petro remained defiant.—
Nora Gámez Torres,
Miami Herald,
21 Oct. 2025
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This Irish American neighborhood is famous for its quirky upside-down traffic light, where green proudly sits above red—a symbol of its defiant community spirit.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Most of the records on the Haitian revolution were written by people who opposed the revolutionaries.—
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
Verb
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In 1841, John Quincy Adams stood before the Supreme Court and defended a group of enslaved captives who mutinied aboard the Spanish slave ship Amistad.—
Time,
Time,
24 Sep. 2025
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In 1913, Swiss Guards mutinied for a week in response but eventually received military training as Repond wanted, Alvarez wrote in The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern Vatican.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
7 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rebel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebel. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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