insurgent

American  

[in-sur-juhnt] / ɪnˈsɜr dʒənt /

noun

1. 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.

2. a member of a section of a political party that revolts against the methods or policies of the party.

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adjective

1. of or characteristic of an insurgent or insurgents.

   Synonyms:

   mutinous, revolutionary, rebellious

2. surging or rushing in.

   The insurgent waves battered the shore.

insurgent British  

/ ɪnˈsɜːdʒənt /

adjective

1. rebellious or in revolt, as against a government in power or the civil authorities

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noun

1. a person who takes part in an uprising or rebellion; insurrectionist

2. 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

• insurgency
  noun

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.

Example Sentences

But opposition from the state government and members of the city council apparently led the insurgent former state legislator to pursue other measures to help plug New York's budget deficit that reached around $12 billion.

From Barron's • May 12, 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

In both elections, he won the votes of more than 2 million Californians, who were also a major source of the small-dollar donations that fueled his insurgent campaigns.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

Iran, where an insurgent civil society desperately awaits support?

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

While Jack was on leave taking care of Sophie, Hoagland told me how Jack had been abducted in Cyprus by a red insurgent faction in sixty-four.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Related Words

• demonstrator
• mutineer
• radical
• revolutionary
• rioter