Jump To:

• revolutionary
  revolutionary

  adjective

  of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change.
• Revolutionary
  Revolutionary

  adjective

  of or relating to the conflict or period of the War of American Independence (1775–83)

revolutionary

American  

[rev-uh-loo-shuh-ner-ee] / ˌrɛv əˈlu ʃəˌnɛr i /

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change.

   a revolutionary junta.

2. radically new or innovative; outside or beyond established procedure, principles, etc..

   a revolutionary discovery.

   Synonyms:

   unorthodox, drastic, novel, unprecedented

3. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the American Revolution or to the period contemporaneous with it in U.S. history.

   Revolutionary heroes; Revolutionary weapons.

4. revolving.

---

noun

• revolutionaries
  plural

1. a revolutionist.

revolutionary ¹ British  

/ ˌrɛvəˈluːʃənərɪ /

noun

1. a person who advocates or engages in revolution

---

adjective

1. relating to or characteristic of a revolution

2. advocating or engaged in revolution

3. radically new or different

   a revolutionary method of making plastics

4. rotating or revolving

Revolutionary ² British  

/ ˌrɛvəˈluːʃənərɪ /

adjective

1. of or relating to the conflict or period of the War of American Independence (1775–83)

2. of or relating to any of various other Revolutions, esp the Russian Revolution (1917) or the French Revolution (1789)

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antirevolutionary
  noun
• revolutionariness
  noun
• nonrevolutionary
  adjective
• post-Revolutionary
  adjective
• prerevolutionary
  adjective
• prorevolutionary
  adjective
• semirevolutionary
  adjective
• ultrarevolutionary
  adjective
• unrevolutionary
  adjective
• revolutionarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• revolutionaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of revolutionary

First recorded in 1765–75; revolution + -ary

Explanation

A revolutionary person fearlessly advocates radical change. Revolutionary people and ideas challenge the status quo and might be violent or willing to upset the natural order to achieve their goals. Like the word revolve, it's all about turning things around. Revolutionary leaders want to change the world by any means necessary. Before he was the coolest face on a T-shirt, Che Guevara was ready to die for change in South America (and in fact, he did). You don't need to be violent to be revolutionary, just ask Gandhi and Rev. Martin Luther King. You don't even need to be political. Alexander McQueen, John Lennon, and Picasso could tell you that.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

revolutionary Revolutionary revolutionaries

Newchapel Observatory in Stoke-on-Trent was considered to be revolutionary when it was built in the 1960s by four amateur astronomers.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Indeed, it is almost revolutionary to see emotionally resonant teenage characters who aren’t mired in abuse, addiction or some kind of horror; leveraging dysfunction has become shorthand for “drama.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The 54-year-old has spent years collecting revolutionary memorabilia and reveres Castro as "the master."

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

For those who have been living paycheck to paycheck forever and building up credit card debt when they get behind, the difference can be revolutionary.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

The two major contestants for the presidency in 1796, then, not only possessed impeccable revolutionary credentials; they had also earned their fame as a team.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Its daily direct flights, large Iranian diaspora and unique financial ecosystem allow the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to procure goods and repatriate revenue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Commander of the Revolutionary Guards in the 1980s and 1990s, Rezaei has never been far from prominence, with his stern face and black beard a familiar presence for Iranians on TV.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

The Revolutionary Guard supervised deployments of missiles, naval weapons and drone launchers to positions overlooking the Red Sea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

After commanding the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, Washington voluntarily surrendered his military commission to Congress rather than retaining control of the army.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

It would only be a matter of time before he also became the secret spymaster of the Revolutionary War.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen

Most of the bearded revolutionaries who entered Havana with Valdés in 1959 have died or withdrawn from public life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

"They'd love to humiliate the Castros and get one of the original revolutionaries from 1959 behind bars. But the strategic value of that is questionable."

From BBC ● May 21, 2026

After starring in the Oscar-winning “One Battle After Another” as the daughter of revolutionaries, Chase Infiniti is poised to lead another revolution in “The Testaments.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

At this year's awards, held on March 15, Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" -- a wild tale of leftist revolutionaries, white supremacists and immigrant detention centers -- was crowned as best picture.

From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026

In France, revolutionaries were turning against their own nobles but remained uncertain about what this meant for enslaved Africans on their sugar islands.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

Related Words

• contemporary
• innovative
• modern
• radical