rebellious

[ri-bel-yuhs] / rɪˈbɛl yəs /

ADJECTIVE

disobedient, unmanageable

Synonyms

STRONGEST

alienated disaffected fractious recalcitrant restless turbulent unruly warring

WEAK

anarchistic attacking bellicose contumacious defiant difficult disloyal disobedient disorderly dissident factious iconoclastic incorrigible individualistic insurgent insurrectionary intractable mutinous obstinate pugnacious quarrelsome radical rebel refractory resistant revolutionary rioting riotous sabotaging seditious threatening treasonable ungovernable

Antonyms

STRONGEST

happy obedient

WEAK

compliant governable manageable

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Then, for his first haute couture collection, the 41-year-old Northern Irish designer presented a line with punk touches and floral accents, true to his rebellious spirit.

From Barron's • May 14, 2026

I didn't have a rebellious bone in my body.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

Over the next decade, rebellious colonists used ads to spread the word about boycotts on British products.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

“It felt riskier, kind of rebellious to do that, but it ended up looking great and feeling really good too for her,” said Tolles about leaning into the room’s darkness.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2026

Her rebellious, ethereal, aura-reading, forgetting-she-had-a-daughter-at-all mother didn’t just like to be noticed—she demanded it.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Vocabulary lists containing rebellious

List 7

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Fighting Words: Belli and Milit

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Tears of a Tiger

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