rebellion
Americannoun
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open, organized, and armed resistance to one's government or ruler.
-
resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition.
- Synonyms:
- disobedience, insubordination
-
the act of rebelling.
noun
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organized resistance or opposition to a government or other authority
-
dissent from an accepted moral code or convention of behaviour, dress, etc
Usage
What does rebellion mean? A rebellion is an attempt to overthrow a government—an organized revolution.It can also refer to a revolt against another form of authority. More generally, rebellion can refer to an action or behavior that resists or defies rules or norms or otherwise challenges the status quo.The verb rebel means to engage in rebellion. As a noun, rebel can refer to a revolutionary or to a person who is defiant or disobedient. Such a defiant person can be called rebellious, and the noun rebelliousness refers to such behavior. Rebellion can also refer to this, as in I went through a phase of teenage rebellion.Example: The rebellion is being led by a coalition of factions that all have the same goal—to topple the regime.
Other Word Forms
- nonrebellion noun
- prerebellion adjective
- semirebellion noun
- subrebellion noun
Etymology
Origin of rebellion
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rebellioun, from Old French, from Latin rebelliōn-, stem of rebelliō; equivalent to rebel + -ion
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.
India in the last two years stepped up its campaign against the last remnants of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the Himalayan foothills where the Maoist-inspired insurgency began nearly six decades ago.
From Barron's
“Apple’s story is an epic tale of frenetic all-nighters and creative rebellion,” he wrote in his book.
From Los Angeles Times
"A lot of these songs were rebellions. I used them to rebuild myself, piece by piece, brick by brick."
From BBC
Weapons from the former Yugoslavia helped drive the Libyan civil wars after 2011, later fueling rebellions in Mali and across the Sahel.
"I also think my accent's come back a lot more now I live in England. Which is quite funny. It's like a rebellion," she said.
From BBC
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.
