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• 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.

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noun

• revolutionaries
  plural

1. a revolutionist.

revolutionary ¹ British  

/ ˌrɛvəˈluːʃənərɪ /

noun

1. a person who advocates or engages in revolution

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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)

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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

The Food and Drug Administration approved a potentially revolutionary flu vaccine yesterday, and the push alerts came rolling in.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

This week, ICE showed it is still excited about the less revolutionary business of bond trading.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

The assemblage turned the damaging caricature into a revolutionary hero, and made Saar a star of the Black Arts movement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Gomez meanwhile said that while Maradona was seen as a revolutionary who confronted FIFA's power, current narratives perceive Messi as FIFA's "golden boy."

From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026

Perhaps because we are still living their legacy, we have yet to reach a genuinely historical perspective on the revolutionary generation.

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

“The Revolutionary Guard are setting the agenda and the pace,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Its original purpose was to generate revenue for the Revolutionary Armed Forces and bring in hard currency during the island's "Special Period," a profound crisis in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Its powerful Revolutionary Guards have been stopping vessels trying to transit the trade route in recent days, including six that state television on Monday said had sailed outside Iran's designated route.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

The biggest question concerns the armed forces, particularly the Revolutionary Guards.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

After I read Richard Yates's novel Revolutionary Road, I copied out this passage: I still had this idea that there was a whole world of marvelous golden people somewhere.

From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos

Ramiro Valdés was one of the last surviving revolutionaries who took power with the Castro brothers in 1959.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

“O Canada” is as soaring as “God Save the King,” while revolutionaries across the world have chanted “La Marseillaise” for centuries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 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

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

The revolutionaries had taken Fourth Aunt and Uncle’s store, house, and lands.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

Related Words

• contemporary
• innovative
• modern
• radical