rebel

[ noun, adjective reb-uhl; verb ri-bel ]

/ noun, adjective ˈrɛb əl; verb rɪˈbɛl /

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See synonyms for: rebel / rebels on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against the government or ruler of their country.

a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.

adjective

rebellious; defiant.

of or relating to rebels.

verb (used without object), re·bel, re·belled, re·bel·ling.

to reject, resist, or rise in arms against one's government or ruler.

to resist or rise against some authority, control, or tradition.

to show or feel utter repugnance: His very soul rebelled at spanking the child.

OTHER WORDS FOR rebel

1 insurrectionist, mutineer, traitor.

1, 3 insurgent.

3 mutinous.

5 revolt, mutiny.

See synonyms for rebel on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of rebel

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English adjective rebel(e), from Old French rebelle, from Latin rebellis “renewing a war,” equivalent to re- re- + bell(um) “war” + -is adjective suffix; Middle English verb rebelle(n), from Old French rebeller and Latin rebellāre; noun derivative of the adjective

OTHER WORDS FROM rebel

reb·el·like, adjectivenon·reb·el, noun, adjectivepro·reb·el, adjectivesem·i·reb·el, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rebel in a sentence

Though the hills of this country were until recently the territory of militant rebels, recent peace treaties have opened them up for a thriving mountain-biking culture, as athletes rediscover the rustic Andean trails.
Your Guide for When Travel Returns|Daniel Malloy|December 27, 2020|Ozy
Who it represents, and how it represents the rebel in all of us.
Plight at the Museum|Jen Trolio|November 20, 2020|Vox
When John Lowe was 18 years old, he stood on Moore Lane in Dublin and watched the armed rebels of Ireland’s Easter Rising surrender to the British military.
The Banned Irish Revolution Film Starring a Real Soldier|Fiona Zublin|November 16, 2020|Ozy
The motive for the attack remains unclear, and government spokesmen pointed blame at the time at different rebel groups.
These 10 journalists have been killed and deserve justice immediately|Brett Haensel|November 2, 2020|Fortune

She watched as Seattle scrambled, as New York panicked, as Florida rebelled.
Football is back in Happy Valley. The coronavirus never left.|Kent Babb|October 30, 2020|Washington Post
The bohemian-libertarian strain rebelled against what Paul Goodman called “the social machine” that “processed” people.
The Revolt Against the Masses and the Roots of Modern Liberalism|Fred Siegel|January 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Some Mizrachim openly rebelled, forming the Israeli version of the Black Panther party.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Israel’s Pragmatic Kingmaker|Jay Michaelson|October 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I tried to get them to read The Turner Diaries, but they straight-out rebelled.
Junot Díaz: How I Write|Noah Charney|August 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
We were 3-8, I think, in part because we rebelled against him.
Mike Rice, Macho Men, and Homophobia|Michael Tomasky|April 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
By then, ever the contrarian, the aging Hopper rebelled the other way.
Dennis Hopper and the Cult of Nonreaders|Tom Folsom|March 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The restraint laid upon her was becoming more than she could bear, and she rebelled against it.
The Cromptons|Mary J. Holmes
The manhood of Homestead rebelled: the millmen scorned the despotic ultimatum.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
The Porte was likewise under the necessity of using its arms against some tribes which had rebelled in Kurdistan.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III.|E. Farr and E. H. Nolan
It was not often that Frances so rebelled, or that their small squabbles went so nearly the length of a quarrel.
Robin Redbreast|Mary Louisa Molesworth
But he could never refuse an exile in need, and they importuned him, till even he rebelled against their exigencies.
The Life of Mazzini|Bolton King

British Dictionary definitions for rebel

rebel

verb (rɪˈbɛl) -bels, -belling or -belled (intr often foll by against)

to resist or rise up against a government or other authority, esp by force of arms

to dissent from an accepted moral code or convention of behaviour, dress, etc

to show repugnance (towards)

noun (ˈrɛbəl)

a person who rebels
(as modifier)a rebel soldier; a rebel leader

a person who dissents from some accepted moral code or convention of behaviour, dress, etc

Derived forms of rebel

rebeldom, noun

Word Origin for rebel

C13: from Old French rebelle, from Latin rebellis insurgent, from re- + bellum war

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

rebel

OTHER WORDS FOR rebel

Origin of rebel

OTHER WORDS FROM rebel

Words related to rebel

How to use rebel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for rebel

Derived forms of rebel

Word Origin for rebel