Insurgent

insurgent
    adj 1: in opposition to a civil authority or government [syn:
           {insurgent}, {seditious}, {subversive}]
    n 1: a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the
         constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving
         conditions) [syn: {insurgent}, {insurrectionist}, {freedom
         fighter}, {rebel}]
    2: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger
       force by sabotage and harassment [syn: {guerrilla},
       {guerilla}, {irregular}, {insurgent}]
    

Insurgent \In*sur"gent\, a. [L. insurgens, p. pr. of insurgere
   to rise up; pref. in- in + surgere to rise. See {Surge}.]
   Rising in opposition to civil or political authority, or
   against an established government; insubordinate; rebellious.
   "The insurgent provinces." --Motley.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Insurgent \In*sur"gent\, n. [Cf. F. insurgent.]
   A person who rises in revolt against civil authority or an
   established government; one who openly and actively resists
   the execution of laws; a rebel.

   Syn: See {Rebel}.
        [1913 Webster]
    

INSURGENT. One who is concerned in an insurrection. He differs from a rebel 
in this, that rebel is always understood in a bad sense, or one who unjustly 
opposes the constituted authorities; insurgent may be one who justly opposes 
the tyranny of constituted authorities. The colonists who opposed the 
tyranny of the English government were insurgents, not rebels. 
    

36 Moby Thesaurus words for "insurgent":
      agitator, anarch, anarchist, brawler, breakaway, contumacious,
      extreme, extremist, extremistic, factious, frondeur, insubordinate,
      insurrectionary, insurrectionist, insurrecto, malcontent, maverick,
      mutineer, mutineering, mutinous, nonconformist, rebel, rebellious,
      revolter, revolutional, revolutionary, revolutionist, rioter,
      riotous, seditionary, seditious, subversive, traitor, traitorous,
      treasonable, turbulent