adjective
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of, like, or causing sedition
-
inclined to or taking part in sedition
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of seditious
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English sedicious, from Old French seditieux, from Latin sēditiōsus, equivalent to sēditi(ō) sedition + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Something seditious works against a government. When countries overthrow authoritarian dictators, often the people engage in seditious protests until the dictator has to leave. Seditious, pronounced "si-DI-shes," comes from the Latin seditionem meaning "civil disorder, dissention." A seditious act rebels against a government or authority. In some countries just saying seditious remarks against a government can land you in jail, especially if what you say is likely to get people to rise up against the government. If you plot against the current power structure in any way, you're being seditious.
Vocabulary lists containing seditious
1984
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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.
Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February after being found guilty of foreign collusion and seditious publication.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Abdel-Rahman lived and preached in New Jersey before he was convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy in relation to the first bombing of the World Trade Center.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
A year after he lampooned a judge in a mocking poem, he had the misfortune of standing before him charged with seditious libel for a pamphlet satirizing the Church.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
The Pentagon has since tried in vain to demote his military rank and a grand jury have declined to charge him with seditious conspiracy.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
Only ten years after the passage and ratification of the Constitution, however, what were treasonable or seditious acts remained blurry and more problematic judgments without the historical sanction that only experience could provide.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
