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.

---

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

---

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

Most lie in areas contested by ethnic insurgent armies.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

With much of the country also under the control of Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, little progress has been made on organising elections beyond a few localised pockets.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

“It also claimed that Bass had won support from a vast majority of voters who supported insurgent Republican Spencer Pratt in the primary election.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 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

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

He died from a fever in 1824 in Missolonghi, in modern day Greece, after joining Greek insurgents the year prior to fight a war of independence against the Ottoman Empire.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Munira Mustaffa, a Malaysia-based counterterrorism and extremism expert, said they were "frustrated signalling" by insurgents intended to "get the government to return to the table".

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

He was among thousands of insurgents who surrendered in late 2001 as a US-led coalition ousted the group.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

They were also motivated by the fear that their own survival might depend on getting on the right side of these insurgents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• demonstrator
• mutineer
• radical
• revolutionary
• rioter

---