From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinsurgentin‧sur‧gent /ɪnˈsɜːdʒənt $ -ɜːr-/ noun [countable usually plural] formal PGREBELLION/REVOLUTIONone of a group of people fighting against the government of their own country, or against authority SYN rebel communist insurgents —insurgent adjective
Examples from the Corpus
insurgent• His organization became a model for future insurgents.• The government reported that it had subsequently killed 80 Hutu insurgents in a series of raids.• He blamed Hutu insurgents from Gisenyi for some of the violence.• U.S. officials are disingenuous when they say they are fighting drugs, not insurgents.• At one point, the insurgents even approached the new Francophile capital of Beirut.Origin insurgent (1700-1800) Latin present participle of insurgere “to rise up”, from surgere “to rise” 