noun
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a person who deserts his or her cause or faith for another; apostate; traitor
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( as modifier )
a renegade priest
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any outlaw or rebel
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of renegade
First recorded in 1575–85; from Spanish renegado, from Medieval Latin renegātus, noun use of past participle of renegāre “to desert”; see renege
Explanation
A renegade is a person who has deserted their cause or defied convention; they're rebels and sometimes outlaws, or even traitors. A long, long time ago, a renegade was a Christian person who decided to become Muslim. That definition is pretty outdated, as these days a renegade is anyone who breaks laws or expectations to do their own thing or join the other side. It might sound kind of cool to be a renegade, like some rogue action hero. But in general, renegade actions are frowned, not smiled, upon.
Vocabulary lists containing renegade
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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:
When Charles Lloyd rose to stardom with his bestselling 1967 album “Forest Flower,” the saxophonist and flutist was a bold young renegade who seemed wise beyond his years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
"If a renegade came in, we might struggle," he says.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Standard CD20 antibodies are an established treatment for MS, with the antibodies targeting the renegade autoimmune cells that damage nerve sheaths.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
To many, the sight of Paul being clapped into cuffs may have even burnished her renegade image.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
“I think so—a few renegade witches from Volgorsk, unless they’ve fled too,” he told her.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
That was good because we need renegades, brigands and pirates, we want their visions and breakthroughs, we want their spirit—go for broke, trust your brain, be wild, insist, announce you are here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Bio praised the "gallant security forces" for repelling the "renegades" and said calm had been restored.
From Reuters ● Nov. 26, 2023
“As the combined team of our Security Forces continue to root out the remnant of the fleeing renegades, a nationwide curfew has been declared and citizens are encouraged to stay indoors,” he wrote.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 26, 2023
Some parasites change systems from the inside; others, like the cookie-cutter shark, are renegades working from the outside, stealing what they can, when they can.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2023
But before I knew it, our entire party was sitting around the campfire like a gang of renegades in an old Western.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
