rebel
Americannoun
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a person who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against the government or ruler of their country.
- Synonyms:
- insurgent, traitor, mutineer, insurrectionist
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a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to resist or rise up against a government or other authority, esp by force of arms
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to dissent from an accepted moral code or convention of behaviour, dress, etc
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to show repugnance (towards)
noun
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a person who rebels
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( as modifier )
a rebel soldier
a rebel leader
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a person who dissents from some accepted moral code or convention of behaviour, dress, etc
Usage
What does rebel mean? A rebel is a person who resists or defies rules or norms or rises up against the powers that be. In its more serious sense, a rebel is a revolutionary trying to overthrow a government. More generally, it means someone who breaks the rules, resists authority, or otherwise challenges the status quo by doing things in a nontraditional way, such as in fashion and other arts. As a noun, rebel is pronounced "REB-uhl."Rebel is also a verb meaning to resist or rise up against authority or tradition. As a verb, rebel is pronounced "ri-BELL."Example: Danielle refused to wear her uniform to school, fighting with the principle and urging the other girls to rebel against the policy as she did.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have rebelperfect
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have rebelledperfect
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has rebelledperfect 3rd person singular
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has rebelperfect 3rd person singular
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is rebellingprogressive 3rd person singular
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rebelssingular 3rd person
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am rebellingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been rebellingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are rebellingprogressive
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rebellingparticiple
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have been rebellingperfect progressive
Past
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had rebelledperfect
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had rebelperfect
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had been rebellingperfect progressive
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were rebellingprogressive plural
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rebelsimple
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rebelledsimple
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rebelparticiple
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was rebellingprogressive singular
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rebelledparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of rebel
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English adjective rebel(e), from Old French rebelle, from Latin rebellis “renewing a war,” equivalent to re- re- + bell(um) “war” + -is adjective suffix; Middle English verb rebelle(n), from Old French rebeller and Latin rebellāre; noun derivative of the adjective
Explanation
When you rebel against your parents by dyeing your hair green and staying out without calling, you are acting in a way that questions both their authority and their rules about what is right and acceptable. A rebel is someone who fights authority. The story of a rebel often finds its way into books and movies. In the 1950s film "Rebel without a Cause," a teenager rebels against his parents. In the "Star Wars" movies, the Jedi rebel against the Empire. A rebel, whether the cause they are fighting for is just or not, is always the underdog. One pronunciation hint, rebel as a noun has the stress on the first syllable and as a verb on the second.
Vocabulary lists containing rebel
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Fighting Words: Belli and Milit
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The American Revolution - Introductory
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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.
The four young men in the rebel camp hidden deep in jungle-covered mountains never wanted a part in Myanmar's civil war.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
The rebel leaders are, uh, the people in charge of the S&P 500.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2026
But new Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa, the former leader of a rebel faction that fought Assad and the Russians, continued to negotiate with Moscow over the fate of the bases.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
The star of the Oscar-winning "Anatomy of a Fall" certainly likes playing the rebel, having made his name in the film "Anarchists".
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
Things were bad enough between Dorian and the king; he didn’t need to be branded as a rebel sympathizer.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
