revolt

[ri-vohlt]

verb (used without object)

1. 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.

2. to turn away in mental rebellion, utter disgust, or abhorrence (usually followed byfrom ).

   He revolts from eating meat.

3. to rebel in feeling (usually followed byagainst ).

   to revolt against parental authority.

4. to feel horror or aversion (usually followed byat ).

   to revolt at the sight of blood.

verb (used with object)

1. to affect with disgust or abhorrence.

   Such low behavior revolts me.

noun

1. the act of revolting; an insurrection or rebellion.

   Synonyms: putsch, disorder, uprising

2. an expression or movement of spirited protest or dissent.

   a voter revolt at the polls.

revolt

/ rɪˈvəʊlt /

noun

1. a rebellion or uprising against authority

2. in the process or state of rebelling

verb

1. (intr) to rise up in rebellion against authority

2. (usually passive) to feel or cause to feel revulsion, disgust, or abhorrence

Other Word Forms

• revolter noun
• unrevolted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of revolt¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of revolt¹

C16: from French révolter to revolt, from Old Italian rivoltare to overturn, ultimately from Latin revolvere to roll back, _revolve

Example Sentences

The U.S. treated his parents’ homeland of Cuba like a playground for decades, propping up one dictator after another until Cubans revolted and Fidel Castro took power.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Add it up and we could be looking at the beginning of a consumer tipping backlash, if not a full-scale revolt, experts say.

Read more on MarketWatch

It is not science and technical progress that nurtures modern atheism but rather the very “image of God” tradition revolting against God.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Former East Wing staffers told East Wing Magazine that seeing the offices where they once worked torn down was “jarring,” a “gut punch” and “revolting.”

Read more on Salon

His tribe revolted against Islamic State’s authority in 2014 but was put down with a campaign of shootings and beheadings that left hundreds dead, including some of his relatives.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• defection 
• insurgency 
• insurrection 
• mutiny 
• rebellion 
• revolution