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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

"When ChatGPT came out, people were shocked. It's very disruptive, very revolutionary," he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

But it is also a revolutionary state, sustained since 1979 by ideological conviction as much as calculation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

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

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

Einstein solved this quandary—the puzzle of the photoelectric effect—but his solution was even more revolutionary than Planck’s hypothesis.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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

They say it remains difficult to assess the extent of the damage the U.S. and Israel did to the Revolutionary Guard’s capabilities.

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

The new leader of the Revolutionary Guard is Brig.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

“In the midst of the resulting chaos, turmoil, and disorder,” Yutar proclaimed, “it was planned by the accused to set up a Provisional Revolutionary Government to take over the administration and control of the country.”

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

He felt the same about his perch at the University of London; it wasn’t Oxford or Cambridge but, as he observed, “even revolutionaries like to be in a suitable tradition.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 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

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