insurgent

American  

[in-sur-juhnt] / ɪnˈsɜr dʒənt /

noun

• insurgents
  plural

1. a person who rises in forcible opposition to lawful authority, especially a person who engages in armed resistance to a government or to the execution of its laws; rebel.

2. a member of a section of a political party that revolts against the methods or policies of the party.

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adjective

1. of or characteristic of an insurgent or insurgents.

   Synonyms:

   mutinous, revolutionary, rebellious

2. surging or rushing in.

   The insurgent waves battered the shore.

insurgent British  

/ ɪnˈsɜːdʒənt /

adjective

1. rebellious or in revolt, as against a government in power or the civil authorities

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noun

1. a person who takes part in an uprising or rebellion; insurrectionist

2. international law a person or group that rises in revolt against an established government or authority but whose conduct does not amount to belligerency

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• insurgency
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• insurgents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of insurgent

1755–65; < Latin insurgent- (stem of insurgēns ) present participle of insurgere to get up, ascend, rebel. See in- ², surge, -ent

Explanation

An insurgent is a rebel or a revolutionary, someone who takes up arms against the authorities. Insurgent is from the Latin word “insurgentem,” literally meaning “to rise against,” so think of an insurgent as a fighter who rises against the people in power. Often insurgents are considered terrorists because they use violence to intimidate people.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

insurgent insurgents

Over the past year the military junta recaptured much of the territory it had lost to the hundreds of insurgent groups which formed to resist the coup.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

It seemed a sure thing a few weeks ago that Abdul El-Sayed, the insurgent progressive challenger in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, was leading the race going away.

From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2026

But nationally we’re seeing that kind of insurgent recruitment, including with Platner.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026

The U.S. recently sanctioned Rwanda’s military and several senior officers for sponsoring a different insurgent group, called M23, that has seized large chunks of eastern Congo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

From time to time, Mammy showed her the old, crumpled newspaper clippings in it, and pamphlets that Ahmad had managed to collect from insurgent groups and resistance organizations headquartered in Pakistan.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

Louis – not his real name – is an entrepreneur from Yangon, who left to join the insurgents in Karen State after the coup.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

State Department designated the insurgents a global terrorist group in 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

Twenty years ago, the grim and creatively valorous third season thrust the story’s human heroes into the role of insurgents.

From Salon ● May 5, 2026

Australian troops had been battling Taliban insurgents at the site near Tarin Kowt, in central Afghanistan, and Roberts-Smith's SAS crew were called in to clear it after an airstrike, the court documents state.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026

In the next hour a few ministers and political leaders arrived, and telephone negotiations with the insurgents were begun in order to gauge the magnitude of the insurrection and to find a peaceful settlement.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Related Words

• demonstrator
• mutineer
• radical
• revolutionary
• rioter