Meanings
rebel1
nounrebel (plural rebels)
plural rebels
- A person who resists an established authority, often violently.
A group of rebels defied the general's orders and split off from the main army.
1 more example
My little sister is such a rebel - coming home late, piercing her ears, and refusing to do any of her chores.
Synonyms: malcontent, renegade
- UShistoricalSynonym of Confederate: a citizen of the Confederate States of America, especially a Confederate soldier.
Synonyms: Confederate
rebel2
verbrebel (third-person singular simple present rebels, present participle rebelling, simple past and past participle rebelled)
present singular third person rebels · participle present rebelling · participle past rebelled · past rebelled
- intransitivegovernmentTo forcefully subvert the law of the land in an attempt to replace it with another form of government.
Rebel3
Rebel4
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who resists an established authority, often violently.
Similar
nounSynonym of Confederate: a citizen of the Confederate States of America, especially a Confederate soldier.
Similar
nounA Confederate soldier; of the American Civil War.
Similar
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
noun‘Johnny’ was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; ‘greyback’ derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
Similar
Broader
Confederate soldier
nouna person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions)
nounsomeone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
Similar
Broader
verbtake part in a rebellion; renounce a former allegiance
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
rebel · noun
- Latinrebellis“waging war again; insurgent”
- Old Frenchrebelle
- Middle Englishrebel
- Englishrebel
From Middle English rebel, rebell, from Old French rebelle, from Latin rebellis (“waging war again; insurgent”), from rebellō (“to wage war again, fight back”), from re- (“again, back”) + bellō (“to wage war”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →rebel · verb
- Latinrebellō“to wage war again, fight back”
- Old Frenchrebeller
- Middle Englishrebellen
- Englishrebel
From Middle English rebellen, from Old French rebeller, from Latin rebellō (“to wage war again, fight back”), from re- (“again, back”) + bellō (“to wage war”). Doublet of revel.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rebel · proper noun
- GermanRebel
- GermanRebel
- EnglishRebel
Borrowed from German Rebel.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀντάρτης
- ἀντάρτης (antártēs)person who resists an established authority
Arabic مُتَمَرِّد, مُتَمَرِّدَة
- مُتَمَرِّد (mutamarrid)person who resists an established authority
- مُتَمَرِّدَة (mutamarrida)person who resists an established authority
- ثَائِر (ṯāʔir)person who resists an established authority
- عَاصٍ (ʕāṣin)person who resists an established authority
- تَمَرَّدَ (tamarrada)to resist or become defiant towards
- يَتَمَرَّدُ (yatamarradu)to resist or become defiant towards
Bengali বিদ্রোহী
- বিদ্রোহী (bidrōhi)person who resists an established authority
Bulgarian бунтовник, бунтар
- бунтовник (buntovnik)person who resists an established authority
- бунтар (buntar)person who resists an established authority
- въстаник (văstanik)person who resists an established authority
- метежник (metežnik)person who resists an established authority
- бунтувам се (buntuvam se)to resist or become defiant towards
- въставам (văstavam)to resist or become defiant towards
- въстана (văstana)to resist or become defiant towards
Catalan rebel
- rebelperson who resists an established authority
Chinese Mandarin 反叛者, 起義者 /起义者
- 反叛者 (fǎnpànzhě)person who resists an established authority
- 起義者 /起义者 (qǐyìzhě)person who resists an established authority
- 反叛 (fǎnpàn)to resist or become defiant towards
- 造反 (zàofǎn)to resist or become defiant towards
- 反抗 (fǎnkàng)to resist or become defiant towards
- 起義 /起义 (qǐyì)to resist or become defiant towards
Czech povstalec, rebel
- povstalecperson who resists an established authority
- rebelperson who resists an established authority
- buřičperson who resists an established authority
- vzbouřenecperson who resists an established authority
- bouřit seto resist or become defiant towards
Danish rebel, oprører
- rebelperson who resists an established authority
- oprørerperson who resists an established authority
- rebelto resist or become defiant towards
Dutch rebel, opstandeling
- rebelperson who resists an established authority
- opstandelingperson who resists an established authority
- rebellerento resist or become defiant towards
- opstaanto resist or become defiant towards
Esperanto ribelulo, ribeli
- ribeluloperson who resists an established authority
- ribelito resist or become defiant towards
Estonian mässaja, vastuhakkaja
- mässajaperson who resists an established authority
- vastuhakkajaperson who resists an established authority
Finnish kapinallinen, niskoittelija
- kapinallinenperson who resists an established authority
- niskoittelijaperson who resists an established authority
- niskuriperson who resists an established authority
- kapinoidato resist or become defiant towards
- niskuroidato resist or become defiant towards
French rebelle, se rebeller
- rebelleperson who resists an established authority
- se rebellerto resist or become defiant towards
German Rebell, Aufrührer
- Rebellperson who resists an established authority
- Aufrührerperson who resists an established authority
- rebellierento resist or become defiant towards
- sich auflehnento resist or become defiant towards
- aufbegehrento resist or become defiant towards
Greek αντάρτης, επαναστατήσει
- αντάρτης (antártis)person who resists an established authority
- επαναστατήσει (epanastatísei)to resist or become defiant towards
Hebrew מוֹרֵד, מָרַד
- מוֹרֵד (moréd)person who resists an established authority
- מָרַד (marád)to resist or become defiant towards
Hindi बाग़ी, बागी
- बाग़ी (bāġī)person who resists an established authority
- बागी (bāgī)person who resists an established authority
- विद्रोही (vidrohī)person who resists an established authority
- द्रोही (drohī)person who resists an established authority
- विद्रोह (vidroh)to resist or become defiant towards
- द्रोह करना (droh karnā)to resist or become defiant towards
- विद्रोह करना (vidroh karnā)to resist or become defiant towards
Hungarian lázadó
- lázadóperson who resists an established authority
Icelandic uppreisnarmaður
- uppreisnarmaðurperson who resists an established authority
Indonesian pendurhaka, pembangkang
- pendurhakaperson who resists an established authority
- pembangkangperson who resists an established authority
- pemberontakperson who resists an established authority
- memberontakto resist or become defiant towards
- membangkangto resist or become defiant towards
Italian ribelle, ribellarsi
- ribelleperson who resists an established authority
- ribellarsito resist or become defiant towards
Japanese 反逆者, 背く
- 反逆者 (hangyakusha)person who resists an established authority
- 背く (somuku)to resist or become defiant towards
- 抗う (aragau)to resist or become defiant towards
- 反逆する (hangyaku suru)to resist or become defiant towards
- 反抗する (hankō suru)to resist or become defiant towards
Korean 반역자, 모반하다
- 반역자 (banyeokja)person who resists an established authority
- 모반하다 (mobanhada)to resist or become defiant towards
Latin rebellis, rebellō
- rebellisperson who resists an established authority
- rebellōto resist or become defiant towards
Latvian nemiernieks, dumpinieks
- nemiernieksperson who resists an established authority
- dumpinieksperson who resists an established authority
Lithuanian maištininkas, maištininkė
- maištininkasperson who resists an established authority
- maištininkėperson who resists an established authority
- sukilėlisperson who resists an established authority
- sukilėlėperson who resists an established authority
- maištautito resist or become defiant towards
Malay pemberontak
- pemberontakperson who resists an established authority
Māori kaiwhana, hauhau
- kaiwhanaperson who resists an established authority
- hauhauperson who resists an established authority
- whanato resist or become defiant towards
Norwegian Bokmål opprører, rebell
- opprørerperson who resists an established authority
- rebellperson who resists an established authority
Persian شورشی, یاغی
- شورشی (šureši)person who resists an established authority
- یاغی (bâġi)person who resists an established authority
Polish buntownik, buntowniczka
- buntownikperson who resists an established authority
- buntowniczkaperson who resists an established authority
- powstaniecperson who resists an established authority
- buntować sięto resist or become defiant towards
Portuguese rebelde, rebelar
- rebeldeperson who resists an established authority
- rebelarto resist or become defiant towards
Romanian rebel, rebelă
- rebelperson who resists an established authority
- rebelăperson who resists an established authority
Russian бунтовщи́к, бунтовщи́ца
- бунтовщи́к (buntovščík)person who resists an established authority
- бунтовщи́ца (buntovščíca)person who resists an established authority
- повста́нец (povstánec)person who resists an established authority
- мяте́жник (mjatéžnik)person who resists an established authority
- мяте́жница (mjatéžnica)person who resists an established authority
- бунта́рь (buntárʹ)person who resists an established authority
- бунта́рка (buntárka)person who resists an established authority
- бунтова́ть (buntovátʹ)to resist or become defiant towards
- взбунтова́ться (vzbuntovátʹsja)to resist or become defiant towards
- восстава́ть (vosstavátʹ)to resist or become defiant towards
- восста́ть (vosstátʹ)to resist or become defiant towards
Scottish Gaelic èirich
- èirichto resist or become defiant towards
Slovak povstalec, burič
- povstalecperson who resists an established authority
- buričperson who resists an established authority
- vzbúrenecperson who resists an established authority
- búriť sato resist or become defiant towards
Spanish rebelde, rebelarse
- rebeldeperson who resists an established authority
- rebelarseto resist or become defiant towards
Swahili mwasi, kuasi
- mwasiperson who resists an established authority
- kuasito resist or become defiant towards
Swedish rebell, upprorsman
- rebellperson who resists an established authority
- upprorsmanperson who resists an established authority
- göra upprorto resist or become defiant towards
- rebellerato resist or become defiant towards
- resa sigto resist or become defiant towards
Thai กบฏ, ก่อกบฏ
- กบฏ (gà-bòt)person who resists an established authority
- ก่อกบฏ (gɔ̀ɔ-gà-bòt)to resist or become defiant towards
- กบฏ (gà-bòt)to resist or become defiant towards
Turkish isyancı, isyan etmek
- isyancıperson who resists an established authority
- isyan etmekto resist or become defiant towards
- ayaklanmakto resist or become defiant towards
Ukrainian бунтівни́к, повста́нець
- бунтівни́к (buntivnýk)person who resists an established authority
- повста́нець (povstánecʹ)person who resists an established authority
- бунта́р (buntár)person who resists an established authority
- бунтува́ти (buntuváty)to resist or become defiant towards
- повстава́ти (povstaváty)to resist or become defiant towards
- повста́ти (povstáty)to resist or become defiant towards
Urdu باغی
- باغی (bāġī)person who resists an established authority
Vietnamese người nổi loạn, người phiến loạn
- người nổi loạnperson who resists an established authority
- người phiến loạnperson who resists an established authority
Welsh gwrthryfelwr, gwrthryfela
- gwrthryfelwrperson who resists an established authority
- gwrthryfelato resist or become defiant towards
Yiddish רעבעל, אויפֿשטאַנדלער
- רעבעל (rebel)person who resists an established authority
- אויפֿשטאַנדלער (oyfshtandler)person who resists an established authority
- אויפֿשטענדלער (oyfshtendler)person who resists an established authority
- בונטאָווניק (buntovnik)person who resists an established authority
- בונטאַר (buntar)person who resists an established authority
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with rebel
wellhotellsellcelltelleldelpersonneldellNFLshellfellexcelMichellegeldlmotelspellsmellbellemelmichelSeychelles
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
rebel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rebel
MLA
“rebel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rebel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rebel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rebel.
Source: rebel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.