WordWeb Online

1. A person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions)
   "a lying traitorous rebel";
   - insurgent, insurrectionist, freedom fighter
    
2. Someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
   - maverick

1. Take part in a rebellion; renounce a former allegiance
   - arise, rise, rise up
    
2. Break with established customs
   - renegade

1. 'Johnny' was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; 'greyback' derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
   - Reb, Johnny Reb, Johnny, greyback [Brit, Cdn], grayback [US]

Derived forms: rebelling, rebelled, rebels

Type of: Confederate soldier, crusader, dissent, meliorist, nonconformist, protest, recusant, reformer, reformist, resist, revolutionary, revolutionist, social reformer, subversive, subverter

Encyclopedia: Rebel, Rebel Rebel Rebel, The Rebel, Sweetheart