REBELS Synonyms: 49 Similar and Opposite Words

rebels 1 of 2

noun

plural of rebel

as in insurgents

a person who rises up against authority the rebel would not submit peacefully, even after he was captured

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rebels

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of rebel

as in revolts

to rise up against established authority the colonists rebelled in the wake of an onslaught of abuses

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rebels

Noun

The rebels recently seized more territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. — ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026 The rebels urged their forces to continue fighting and called on Tigrayans to support them. — Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026 At an intersection in Hyde Park that, days earlier, had been the scene of chaos — a young girl on the ground, a car with a teenage boy on the windshield, a mother screaming — Jonathan Hale led his band of rebels. — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026 In 2022, a shaky peace deal ended the civil war between Ethiopia’s government and rebels in the region of Tigray. — Siyanne Mekonnen, Christian Science Monitor, 16 Oct. 2026 The kingdom launched a major offensive last week to support Yemeni government forces fighting the Houthis, but the rebels have so far held their ground. — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 11 Oct. 2026 Those gains gave the rebels better surveillance of shipping on a corridor that is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships. — Samy Magdy, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026

Verb

Masahiro Motoki — the Oscar-winning star of Departures — plays a lord who rebels against warlord Oda Nobunaga and barricades himself inside Arioka Castle, only to face a string of unsolved murders within its walls. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026 Set against the backdrop of the 1998 São Paulo World Cup between Brazil and France, Amarela follows 14-year-old Erika Oguihara (Melissa Uehara), a Japanese Brazilian sports fanatic who rebels against her family’s more Japanese cultural traditions. — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 10 Jan. 2026 As the professor navigates retirement, the baby grows into a rambunctious child who rebels against the traditions of her fishing community. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebels

Noun

Gavroche and the insurgents of 1832—the wretched who became rioters—were ready to die defending a particular vision of the republic against the July Monarchy and the usurper Louis-Philippe.

— Ollivier Pourriol, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026
Ethiopia also accuses Eritrea of supporting insurgents and occupying Ethiopian territory, allegations the AP could not independently verify.

— KHALED KAZZIHA, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of insurgents

Noun

But unlike other Floridians of Cuban descent — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Valdes ended up defending Cuba’s socialist revolutionaries and officials who have killed, jailed, tortured, and censored numerous political enemies.

— Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026
In the Tenth Arrondissement of Paris, near the Canal Saint-Martin, a mural appeared, seemingly overnight, depicting the lycéens as heroic revolutionaries in a style that seemed equal parts Delacroix and Dragon Ball.

— Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026