Dictionary.com
definitions

revolt

[ri-vohlt]
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR revolt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

to affect with disgust or abhorrence: Such low behavior revolts me.

noun

the act of revolting; an insurrection or rebellion.
an expression or movement of spirited protest or dissent: a voter revolt at the polls.

RELATED CONTENT

What may be the longest single palindromic word?
Poor Dan is in a droop. Sit on a potato pan, Otis. What do these sentences have in common? They’re both palindromes. A palindrome is a word, number, sentence, or verse that reads the same backward or forward. It derives from the Greek palin dromo, which means “running back again.” In palindromes, spacing, punctuation, and capitalization are usually ignored. (This is not the same thing as when …
READ MORE
What’s a Bastille?
On Bastille Day, the world parties in the name of France. But do you know what makes Bastille Day so important—not just for France but the history of all democracies? The occasion is typically honored with military parades and copious consumption of libations. This mix of weapons and wooziness arguably sums up the legacy of July 14, 1789. Bastille is French for “fortress,” “castle,” or “bastion.” The Bastille …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

defection, insurrection, insurgency, rebellion, revolution, mutiny, defy, overthrow, offend, repulse, repel, rising, displeasure, sedition, break, riot, renounce, defect, boycott, resist

Origin of revolt

1540–50; (v.) < Middle French revolter < Italian rivoltare to turn around < Vulgar Latin *revolvitāre, frequentative of Latin revolvere to roll back, unroll, revolve; (noun) < French révolte < Italian rivolta, derivative of rivoltare
Related formsre·volt·er, nounun·re·volt·ed, adjective
Can be confusedrebellion revolt revolution

Synonyms for revolt

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR revolt ON THESAURUS.COM
6. uprising, disorder, putsch.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for revolt

Contemporary Examples of revolt

Historical Examples of revolt

  • Mrs. Page could not get back of Harriet's revolt to its cause.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • The mind of Chief Inspector Heat was inaccessible to ideas of revolt.

    The Secret Agent

    Joseph Conrad

  • Injustice has always roused me to revolt, and injustice was certainly having its fling.

    My Double Life

    Sarah Bernhardt

  • There was not a word of gratitude to this man, not a murmur of vengeance nor of revolt.

    My Double Life

    Sarah Bernhardt

  • The essential elements of our poetry will be courage, audacity, and revolt.

    Alarms and Discursions

    G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for revolt

revolt

noun

a rebellion or uprising against authority
in revolt in the process or state of rebelling

verb

(intr) to rise up in rebellion against authority
(usually passive) to feel or cause to feel revulsion, disgust, or abhorrence
Derived Formsrevolter, noun

Word Origin for revolt

C16: from French révolter to revolt, from Old Italian rivoltare to overturn, ultimately from Latin revolvere to roll back, revolve
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
Word Origin and History for revolt
v.

1540s, from Middle French revolter (15c.), from Italian rivoltare "to overthrow, overturn," from Vulgar Latin *revolvitare "to overturn, overthrow," frequentative of Latin revolvere (past participle revolutus) "turn, roll back" (see revolve). Related: Revolted; revolting.

n.

1550s, from Middle French révolte (c.1500), back formation from revolter (see revolt (v.)), or else from Italian rivolta.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper