rebellious

Rebellious is an adjective describing a person, behavior, or attitude that resists authority, norms, or rules. It implies a deliberate challenge to established power or expectations rather than mere error or accident. Rebellious behavior can express dissent, nonconformity, or a desire for autonomy, and it may be framed positively as courage or integrity in some contexts, or negatively as defiance or disruption in others. The term is commonly applied to individuals—such as a rebellious teen—or to describe broader cultural or artistic styles that reject conventional conventions.

Etymology: The word derives from rebel, with the suffix -ious forming a descriptive adjective. The noun rebel comes from Old French rebel, rebellion, ultimately from Latin rebellis "of war again," built from re- "again" and bellum "war." The modern English adjective rebellious emerged in the late medieval or early modern period and is used across many domains to denote resistance to authority or tradition.

In social and cultural contexts, rebellious attitudes have driven political movements, countercultures, and stylistic innovations. In psychology, rebellious behavior is often discussed in the context of adolescence; it can be a normal stage of developing autonomy but, when persistent and impairing, may be considered within clinical frameworks such as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Related terms include defiant, insurgent, nonconformist, and insubordinate; antonyms include compliant and obedient. Common collocations include rebellious youth, rebellious streak, rebellious mood, and rebellious spirit.