rebel without a cause
Aimless young troublemaker
A rebel without a cause is someone who defies authority or convention without clear purpose or grievance—rebellion as attitude rather than action toward change.
The phrase comes from a 1955 film about disaffected youth: He likes to think of himself as a rebel without a cause, but mostly he just argues with his parents.
- method actingPerformance through lived emotion
- smokeAirborne combustion byproduct
- nonconformityRejection of prevailing norms
- absurdismPhilosophy embracing existence's irrationality
- existentialismPhilosophy stressing self-created meaning
James Dean · alienation · angst · moral ambiguity · vulnerability · jacket · disillusionment · authenticity · nihilism · generational conflict · identity crisis · societal critique · misfit · counterculture · juvenile delinquent · broken home · teenage angst · leather
- youth sayingsfountain of youth, salad days, spring chicken, tender age, young at heart
rebel without a causefreedom fighter
Armed rebel against tyranny
resistance fighter · political activist · civil rights activist · activist · true believer
rebel without a causeconformist
One following accepted norms
company man · yes-man · traditionalist · organization man · team player
rebel without a causegolden boy
Favored person destined for success
go-getter · overachiever · prodigy · young professional · careerist
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