noun
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a revolt or rebellion
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archaic an ascent
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of uprising
Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at up-, rising
Explanation
An organized rebellion, especially against an authority or government — is an uprising. If your entire math class joined together in rebellion against your teacher's unfair grading practices, you could call it an uprising. The word uprising is most often used to describe a political revolt, often a violent insurrection against the established rule, but its original meaning was very different. In the thirteenth century, an uprising was a resurrection, or "the action of rising from the grave," and soon after that it meant "an action of rising from the bed." It wasn't until the late 1500's that it came to mean "revolt."
Vocabulary lists containing uprising
Born a Crime
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Stamped
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Catching Fire
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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:
The Flock uprising, though, is the stirrings of public understanding that none of this inevitable — and we have the right to fight back.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Deraa is widely seen as the birthplace of the uprising against Assad's rule.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
“It took so long because we’re in Watts,” she said, noting that the neighborhood has faced decades of disinvestment dating back to the 1965 Watts uprising.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Who keeps us safe?” began a popular call-and-response protest chant I first heard during the George Floyd uprising and that resurfaced during Metro Surge.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
In the few minutes of privacy we’ve had, with me walking him back to town, I gather that the rumblings of an uprising in 12 have been subdued by Thread’s crackdown.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
The federal government was given the responsibility for putting down rebellions, which in practice meant crushing slave uprisings and resistance.
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
Those uprisings, later coined the Arab Spring, succeeded in bringing about a short democratic sojourn in Tunisia and a much briefer one in Egypt, but they also unleashed unrest.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
Like previous uprisings, this too was crushed - Beijing says 22 people died, but Tibetan groups in exile estimate it was around 200.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
He spent two years studying the role of musical activity in the nonviolent anti-Soviet uprisings of the Baltic States during the Perestroika era, publishing his research in English and Latvian.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
In a few minutes I’ve updated him and he’s told me about rumors of uprisings in Districts 7 and 11 as well.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
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.
