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insurgency

noun

Simple meaning

An organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihnsurjuhnsee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪnˈsɝdʒənsi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict

  2. Rebellion; revolt; the state of being insurgent

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict

Used this way, insurgency is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It turns up most in government or politics contexts.

Emotional tone
Slightly negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Critical or judgemental
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Government/politics

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Organized

armed insurgencyguerrilla insurgency

Other combinations

communist insurgencycounter insurgencyinsurgency operationsblack insurgencypeasant insurgencyinsurgency campaign

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.