rebel
Fights the establishment
A rebel opposes or fights against authority—a government, an institution, or established conventions.
The word carries romantic connotations of independence and defiance: teenage rebels, rebel without a cause.
In historical contexts, rebels are those who take up arms against ruling powers: Confederate rebels.
As a verb (stress on second syllable), to rebel is to resist or rise up: She rebelled against her strict upbringing.
Rebellious describes the disposition; rebellion names the act.
Violent uprising against authority
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
- mutinyRevolt against authority
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
resistance · liberation · overthrow · coup · barricades · insurgent · freedom fighter · partisan
Rejects prevailing social standards
- iconoclastAttacker of cherished beliefs
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- individualistOne who values autonomy
eccentric · bohemian · original · innovator · outsider · contrarian · unorthodox · avant-garde
Capacity to withstand force
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
- insubordinationDefying workplace authority
- nonconformityRejection of prevailing norms
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
opposition · protest · noncompliance · recalcitrance · stubbornness · obstinacy · refusal · dissent
Insider who reports misconduct
- objectorOne who formally disagrees
- criticOne who judges merit
- apostateOne who renounces faith
- renegadeDeserter of a cause
exile · separatist · outcast · questioner · doubter · refusenik · conscientious objector · samizdat
One fleeing authorities
- banditArmed roadside thief
- pirateMaritime thief or bootlegger
- brigandArmed robber, often rural
- highwaymanMounted thief targeting travelers
marauder · renegade · desperado · outcast · criminal · wanted · bounty · hideout
Person aged thirteen-nineteen
- adolescentPerson in puberty
- punkRaw, fast rock genre
- delinquentFailing in duty
- troublemakerOne who creates discord
dropout · runaway · misfit · angst · defiant · sullen · disobedient · grounded
insurrection
Violent uprising against authority
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
- mutinyRevolt against authority
guerrilla · resistance · liberation · overthrow · coup · barricades · insurgent · freedom fighter · partisan · underground
nonconformist
Rejects prevailing social standards
- iconoclastAttacker of cherished beliefs
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
individualist · eccentric · bohemian · original · innovator · outsider · contrarian · unorthodox · avant-garde · freethinker
resistance
Capacity to withstand force
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
- insubordinationDefying workplace authority
- nonconformityRejection of prevailing norms
defiance · opposition · protest · noncompliance · recalcitrance · stubbornness · obstinacy · refusal · dissent · rejection
whistleblower
Insider who reports misconduct
renegade · exile · separatist · outcast · questioner · doubter · refusenik · conscientious objector · samizdat · disaffected
fugitive
One fleeing authorities
highwayman · marauder · renegade · desperado · outcast · criminal · wanted · bounty · hideout · gang
teenager
Person aged thirteen-nineteen
- adolescentPerson in puberty
- punkRaw, fast rock genre
- delinquentFailing in duty
troublemaker · dropout · runaway · misfit · angst · defiant · sullen · disobedient · grounded · curfew
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- character archetypeshero, villain, mentor, sidekick, protagonist
- combatantssoldier, warrior, fighter, swordsman, spearman
- homographsalternate, bass, bow, close, compound
- mutinymutiny, mutineer, mutinous, naval mutiny, revolt
- Nonconformistsnonconformist, misfits, misfit, free spirits, free spirit
rebelloyalist
Faithful supporter of authority
counterrevolutionary · government forces · royalist · patriot · counterinsurgent
- rebellious spiritDisposition against compliance
- rebel without a causeDefiant person lacking motive
- rebel yellsFierce shouts of insurgents
- teenage rebellionAdolescent resistance to authority
- teen rebellionAdolescent resistance to authority
- rebellious teenagerAuthority-resisting young person
rebellion, rebellious, rebels, rebelling, rebelled, rebellions, rebelliousness, rebelliously, rebel yell