mutiny 1 of 2

mutiny

2 of 2

verb

as in to rebel
to rise up against established authority the party's conservative faction mutinied just before the election

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun mutiny differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of mutiny are insurrection, rebellion, revolt, revolution, and uprising. While all these words mean "an outbreak against authority," mutiny applies to group insubordination or insurrection especially against naval authority.

a mutiny led by the ship's cook

When could rebellion be used to replace mutiny?

The synonyms rebellion and mutiny are sometimes interchangeable, but rebellion implies an open formidable resistance that is often unsuccessful.

open rebellion against the officers

How do revolt and insurrection relate to one another, in the sense of mutiny?

Both revolt and insurrection imply an armed uprising that quickly fails or succeeds.

a revolt by the Young Turks that surprised party leaders
an insurrection of oppressed laborers

When is it sensible to use revolution instead of mutiny?

While the synonyms revolution and mutiny are close in meaning, revolution applies to a successful rebellion resulting in a major change (as in government).

a political revolution that toppled the monarchy

When can uprising be used instead of mutiny?

Although the words uprising and mutiny have much in common, uprising implies a brief, limited, and often immediately ineffective rebellion.

quickly put down the uprising

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mutiny
Noun
Business leaders face challenges, including the frantic need for speedy decision-making, unexpected market shifts, geopolitical volatility, internal mutinies, power plays and harrowing decisions that can hurt the livelihood of their teams by cutting jobs. Carlo Tortora Brayda, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025 Bosses in Silicon Valley, who saw the social-justice initiatives and worker solidarity of the COVID crisis as a kind of mutiny, felt emboldened and sought to regain control over their workforce, including by requiring people to return to the office. Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2025
Verb
Jackie Calmes: McCarthy flopped, Gaetz mutinied, but blame the chaos on the entire Republican Party. Helen Li, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2023 More recently, Tytler and his young wife, Harriet Tytler—she eight months pregnant, with two small children at her side—had narrowly escaped Delhi in 1857, when the sepoys, or Indian infantrymen, mutinied. Adam Goodheart, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Sep. 2023 See All Example Sentences for mutiny
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mutiny
Noun
  • That led to a developer revolt, a subreddit blackout, and the shutdown of some popular Reddit clients.
    Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 2 Apr. 2025
  • The revolt against Tesla is not slowing down, and in some cases people are outright getting rid of their cars.
    Saahil Desai, The Atlantic, 29 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Given recent rumors that those in bondage intended to rebel, the delegation accepted his explanation, withdrew and convinced the waiting crowd outside to disperse.
    Andrew Lawler, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2025
  • Elphaba and Glinda, who spent the first act and film becoming unlikely friends, go their separate ways as Elphaba chooses to rebel against the Wizard and Glinda stays behind.
    Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 31 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Yet the movement was deeply involved in a dramatic example of recent political violence: the January 6 insurrection, during which four people died and more than 100 police officers were injured.
    John Blake, CNN Money, 13 Apr. 2025
  • One of his first acts as president was to pardon those responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection.
    Bea L. Hines, Miami Herald, 12 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Alaa Abd El-Fattah was a leading activist in the country’s 2011 uprising.
    Mounira Elsamra, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025
  • The island was the site of an uprising in the late 1940s, one that was brutally suppressed by the anticommunist Korean government with the apparent support of occupying American forces; tens of thousands of people were killed.
    Vulture Editors, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The hit show returns with its sixth and final season on April 8, and audiences should brace for an explosive finale as the rebellion in Gilead finally ignites.
    Abigail Lee, Variety, 5 Apr. 2025
  • The title is borrowed from Elizabeth Alexander’s fourth collection persona poems, historical narratives, jazz riffs, sonnets, elegies, and a sequence of ars poetica which examines the Black experience through the lens of the slave rebellion on the Amistad and nineteenth-century American art.
    Natasha Gural, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Mutiny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mutiny. Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.

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