overthrower
One who deposes
An overthrower is someone who brings down or removes a government, ruler, or established system, typically by force or through revolutionary action.
The term applies to political revolutionaries, coup leaders, or anyone who successfully topples an existing power structure.
History remembers him as the overthrower of the monarchy.
It can also describe someone who defeats or overturns something more abstractly, like overthrowing a reigning champion or overturning conventional wisdom.
Illegal power seizer
- putschForcible government overthrow attempt
- juntaPost-coup ruling clique
- seizureForcible taking or convulsion
- takeoverAssuming command of something
cabal · conspiracy · plot · insurrection · mutiny · sedition · treason · collusion
Illegitimate claimant to power
- claimantOne asserting entitlement
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- interloperOne who enters uninvited
- supplanterOne who displaces another
successor · deposer · regent · contender · rival · challenger · intruder · heir-apparent
Attacker of cherished beliefs
- subversiveSeeking to undermine authority
- agitatorOne who foments discord
- provocateurOne who deliberately incites
- firebrandAgitator or burning stick
instigator · saboteur · troublemaker · rabble-rouser · demagogue · incendiary · destabilizer
Sailor who revolts
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- insurgentOne who revolts
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
- renegadeDeserter of a cause
secessionist · resistance · uprising · revolt · rebellion · insubordination · deserter · turncoat
One who revolts
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
- liberatorOne who frees others
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- insurrectionistOne who rebels violently
partisan · militant · radical · patriot · Jacobin · Bolshevik · Sandinista · Zapata
usurper
Illegal power seizer
- putschForcible government overthrow attempt
- juntaPost-coup ruling clique
- seizureForcible taking or convulsion
takeover · cabal · conspiracy · plot · insurrection · mutiny · sedition · treason · collusion · intrigue
pretender
Illegitimate claimant to power
- claimantOne asserting entitlement
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- interloperOne who enters uninvited
supplanter · successor · deposer · regent · contender · rival · challenger · intruder · heir-apparent
iconoclast
Attacker of cherished beliefs
- subversiveSeeking to undermine authority
- agitatorOne who foments discord
- provocateurOne who deliberately incites
firebrand · instigator · saboteur · troublemaker · rabble-rouser · demagogue · incendiary · destabilizer
mutineer
Sailor who revolts
renegade · secessionist · resistance · uprising · revolt · rebellion · insubordination · deserter · turncoat · apostate
insurgent
One who revolts
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
- liberatorOne who frees others
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
insurrectionist · partisan · militant · radical · patriot · Jacobin · Bolshevik · Sandinista · Zapata · Che
dethrone
Remove from sovereignty
supplant · vanquish · conquer · defeat · subvert · undermine · destabilize · displace · remove · expel
overthrow, overthrown, overthrowing, overthrows, overthrowers