as in insurgent
taking part in a rebellion
a small insurrectionary force that was soundly defeated by the loyalists
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in rebel
a person who rises up against authority
only a small band of insurrectionaries who were willing to stand up to the dictator
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of insurrectionary
Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2026
In a year of cancellations and euphemisms, the city mounted a counterprogram that was quietly insurrectionary, stubbornly joyous.
—The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
Adjective
This insurrectionary narrative about the media is not restricted to the right.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2026
In a year of cancellations and euphemisms, the city mounted a counterprogram that was quietly insurrectionary, stubbornly joyous.
—The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insurrectionary
Adjective
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And for two of those elections, in 1984 and 1988, the party endured a primary that pitted more establishment centrist candidates (Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis) against an insurgent firebrand Black populist, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson.—
Abby Phillip,
Time,
4 Dec. 2025
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Although some analysts have suggested Starmer may quietly be pleased with the resignation of his main rival and potential successor, the toppling of Rayner caps off what has been a dreadful summer for Labour, in which the party has lost more ground in the polls to the insurgent Reform UK.—
Max Foster,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Lucas’s focus on getting paid brings him in for the book’s harshest criticism; Fischer casts him as a rebel turned sellout.—
Michael O’Donnell,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
-
On the other hand, Bennu is the rebel — its glycine likely originated in frozen ice exposed to harsh radiation in the outer reaches of the solar system.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
With that mental reframing, the American (and then French and other) revolutionaries changed not just their own country, but the world.—
Andreas Kluth,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
-
In this topsy-turvy world, Erdoğan was the revolutionary, and the representatives of leftist institutions and unions were the rotten elites.—
Kaya Genç,
The Dial,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Insurrectionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insurrectionary. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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