insurgent
Americannoun
-
a person who rises in forcible opposition to lawful authority, especially a person who engages in armed resistance to a government or to the execution of its laws; rebel.
-
a member of a section of a political party that revolts against the methods or policies of the party.
adjective
-
of or characteristic of an insurgent or insurgents.
- Synonyms:
- mutinous, revolutionary, rebellious
-
surging or rushing in.
The insurgent waves battered the shore.
adjective
noun
-
a person who takes part in an uprising or rebellion; insurrectionist
-
international law a person or group that rises in revolt against an established government or authority but whose conduct does not amount to belligerency
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of insurgent
1755–65; < Latin insurgent- (stem of insurgēns ) present participle of insurgere to get up, ascend, rebel. See in- 2, surge, -ent
Explanation
An insurgent is a rebel or a revolutionary, someone who takes up arms against the authorities. Insurgent is from the Latin word “insurgentem,” literally meaning “to rise against,” so think of an insurgent as a fighter who rises against the people in power. Often insurgents are considered terrorists because they use violence to intimidate people.
Vocabulary lists containing insurgent
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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.
In May, Ethiopia and Sudan -- engulfed by civil war since 2023 -- traded accusations that each had violated the other's territory and were supporting insurgent forces.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
As the stock languished in penny-stock territory around the end of 2024, insurgent squads of space enthusiasts huddled in scattered corners of the internet.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
I didn’t want to be an identity insurgent.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
Those delegates went on to back reforms to the party's primary process that made it easier for insurgent candidacies like Jackson to compete for the party's presidential nomination without backing from the Democratic establishment.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
From time to time, Mammy showed her the old, crumpled newspaper clippings in it, and pamphlets that Ahmad had managed to collect from insurgent groups and resistance organizations headquartered in Pakistan.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
