rebellion
Americannoun
-
open, organized, and armed resistance to one's government or ruler.
-
resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition.
- Synonyms:
- disobedience, insubordination
-
the act of rebelling.
noun
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organized resistance or opposition to a government or other authority
-
dissent from an accepted moral code or convention of behaviour, dress, etc
Usage
What does rebellion mean? A rebellion is an attempt to overthrow a government—an organized revolution. It can also refer to a revolt against another form of authority. More generally, rebellion can refer to an action or behavior that resists or defies rules or norms or otherwise challenges the status quo. The verb rebel means to engage in rebellion. As a noun, rebel can refer to a revolutionary or to a person who is defiant or disobedient. Such a defiant person can be called rebellious, and the noun rebelliousness refers to such behavior. Rebellion can also refer to this, as in I went through a phase of teenage rebellion. Example: The rebellion is being led by a coalition of factions that all have the same goal—to topple the regime.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rebellion
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rebellioun, from Old French, from Latin rebelliōn-, stem of rebelliō; equivalent to rebel + -ion
Explanation
A rebellion is when you rise up and fight those in power, usually on a large scale. In "Star Wars," the good guys fighting the powerful, evil empire were known as the rebellion. If you know that a rebel is someone who fights authority, then you won’t be surprised that a rebellion is something similar. Rebellions can be wars, particularly wars for independence from the ruling government, but many rebellions never come to armed conflict. Most of the time they're wars of words, or even just small-scale rule-breaking that is supposed to make a larger point. Students might wear shorts to school, for example, as a rebellion against the dress code.
Vocabulary lists containing rebellion
Animal Farm
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May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Words
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List 5
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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:
A hotbed of feminist rebellion, its corset-shattering, myth-busting history encompasses a journey of emancipation, imagination, and healthy disdain for patriarchal expectations.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
After her departure from the cabinet in November 2024, Haigh maintained a high profile on the backbenches, playing a key role in orchestrating the Labour rebellion against proposed welfare cuts last year.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
It has freezer jam, bright and almost indecently cheerful, a small rebellion against the end of fruit season.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
But Shakespeare, who was as wary of rebellion as he was of tyranny, saw the flaws in every faction of society.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Territorial empires are tightly controlled but costly to maintain; hegemonic empires are inexpensive to maintain, because the original local rulers incur the costs of administration, but the loose tie between master and vassal encourages rebellion.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
The longer struggle against slavery in the Western Hemisphere involved centuries of resistance through rebellions, wars, sabotage, and self-emancipation by enslaved people themselves, a story that extends far beyond the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2026
After no rebellions took place, the judicial system put on the brakes, the public turned against Palmer and the scare went dormant.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2025
Suriname, on the north coast of South America, has been plagued by rebellions and coups since independence in 1975.
From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025
The first national railroad workers’ strike in 1877 was the beginning of industrial-era struggles between labor and capital, as Army and National Guard forces suppressed worker rebellions along rail lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2025
Within half a dozen years of the initial conquest, Incas mounted two desperate, large-scale, well-prepared rebellions against the Spaniards.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
