revolt
Americanverb (used without object)
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revolts,
present (3rd person singular)
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revolted,
past participle, past
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revolting
present participle
-
to break away from or rise against constituted authority, as by open rebellion; cast off allegiance or subjection to those in authority; rebel; mutiny.
to revolt against the present government.
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to turn away in mental rebellion, utter disgust, or abhorrence (usually followed byfrom ).
He revolts from eating meat.
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to rebel in feeling (usually followed byagainst ).
to revolt against parental authority.
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to feel horror or aversion (usually followed byat ).
to revolt at the sight of blood.
verb (used with object)
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revolts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
revolted,
past participle, past
-
revolting
present participle
noun
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a rebellion or uprising against authority
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in the process or state of rebelling
verb
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(intr) to rise up in rebellion against authority
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(usually passive) to feel or cause to feel revulsion, disgust, or abhorrence
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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revoltsimple
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revoltssimple
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have revoltedperfect
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has revoltedperfect
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am revoltingprogressive
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are revoltingprogressive
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is revoltingprogressive
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have been revoltingperfect progressive
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has been revoltingperfect progressive
Past
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revoltedsimple
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had revoltedperfect
-
was revoltingprogressive
-
were revoltingprogressive
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had been revoltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of revolt
1540–50; (v.) < Middle French revolter < Italian rivoltare to turn around < Vulgar Latin *revolvitāre, frequentative of Latin revolvere to roll back, unroll, revolve; (noun) < French révolte < Italian rivolta, derivative of rivoltare
Explanation
Revolt means to rise up against an authority in an act of rebellion. You might see an opposition group revolt against a government, or you might revolt against your oppressive 10:00 curfew. Revolt has a noun form as well to describe that kind of rebellious uprising. Your revolt is successful if you get permission to stay out past 11:00. Revolt can also mean to disgust or sicken, either physically or in terms of your sensibilities. Your stomach may revolt at the idea of eating cauliflower again. You could combine the two meanings of revolt if you stage a revolt in the kitchen to stop from having to eat vegetables that revolt you.
Vocabulary lists containing revolt
"The Sniper" by Liam O’Flaherty
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"Revolution 2.0," Vocabulary from the memoir
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"When Cultures Meet"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Speaking to Texas Standard after the midterm results were in, Johnson chalked up the blue wave to a “national revolt against meanness, against hateful speech and divisiveness.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2026
Only after France lost Haiti to a slave revolt that began in 1791 did Napoleon turn decisively from the New World to pursue his European ambitions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Rosario Forlenza, a professor at Rome's Luiss University, called it a "European generational revolt" rooted in a social and economic crisis "to which politicians cannot give a substantive response".
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
The internal revolt at the network has become a daily reality for rank-and-file employees who watched the forced departures of foundational figures like Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
Teleki’s association with the Hungarian uprising against Austrian rule in March 1848, a revolt that was crushed by Imperial armies and followed by a punitive policy of Germanisation, led to him being sentenced to death.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The university endured the faculty and student revolts that those moves sparked.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The numbers are far from the peaks reached in 2011, when tens of thousands arrived in just a few months as maritime border controls disintegrated during the Arab Spring revolts.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
It was also a time when various European empires were reaching their peak yet faced republican or nationalistic revolts.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
Speaking to other militia members who joined the revolts of Bundy and his father, The Atlantic found that Ammon was an outlier in his own community.
From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2026
For example, Hawaiian history was repeatedly punctuated by revolts against repressive chiefs, usually led by younger brothers promising less oppression.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The crowd revolted, showering the court with cups, beer cans and garbage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
There was one heavily affected community that revolted whenever the group tried to enter.
From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2026
Within weeks of the election, roughly three-quarters of the TMC's legislators revolted against both Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, widely seen as her heir.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
The ostentatious displays of deference he demanded, and received, from heads of state and CEOs manifested an arrogance that enraged some participants and a vulgarity that revolted others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
He wasn’t at all sure whether he’d really been sick or whether his conscience had revolted, infecting his body, leaving him weak and nauseous.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
"In France, we have this tradition and history of revolting," says Alcidor in Paris.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
And so, as these fighters walked stone-faced to the octagon, we bore witness to the revolting spectacle of the troops saluting fighters.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
Across Southern California, residents are revolting against bright LEDs.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
The new policy is an attempt to be “flexible” as situations change, the company said, but some shareholders appear to be revolting.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
The smells were both delicious and revolting, and oh so familiar.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
