How to Use rebellious in a Sentence

rebellious

adjective
  • The show was set in an old church, which felt apt for the rebellious theme.
    — Marley Gotterer, Them., 18 Sep. 2025
  • So my rebellious nature always had that one at the top of the list.
    — Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 16 Apr. 2024
  • The girls are moved to rebellious action.
    — Literary Hub, 11 Dec. 2025
  • Bob and Zoyd are both paranoid in the wake of their rebellious pasts.
    — Andrew McGowan, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Overall, the look is messy and undone with a rebellious edge.
    — Ella Alexander, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2025
  • This time around, the look is more refined and more polished, but just as rebellious in essence.
    — Alex Sales, Glamour, 20 Dec. 2025
  • That's helpful for checking in on four-legged friends — and rebellious teens too!
    — Dan Diclerico, Good Housekeeping, 3 May 2021
  • All dance was seen as rebellious during colonial times.
    — Karla Gachet, NPR, 1 Oct. 2025
  • There was a part of me that felt a little rebellious about skin care in general.
    — Kathleen Hou, The Cut, 27 June 2018
  • How much did Alvin empower you to be more rebellious as a kid?
    — Steve Knopper, Billboard, 1 Dec. 2023
  • And there’s something so rebellious about the teens and that era in the ‘90s as well.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 14 Jan. 2022
  • This all boils down to the rebellious nature of a grown-up being treated like a child.
    — Ron Kroichick, SFChronicle.com, 13 Nov. 2019
  • The idea of your clothes taking space back really has a rebellious side.
    — Devan Díaz, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Yet, there is a freedom and boldness to her work that speaks to the rebellious nature of street art.
    — Lee Sharrock, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
  • Black jeans are the rebellious brother of blue jeans, always have been, always will be.
    — Jake Woolf, GQ, 5 Apr. 2018
  • On the one hand, all the kids are grown up (even baby Kelly is a rebellious teen).
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
  • First, to Dallas, where his once-rebellious father had gone as a young man.
    — John McMurtrie, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 May 2018
  • Despite the pants and long sleeves, there’s still a summer feel to this somewhat rebellious look.
    — Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 14 May 2026
  • The rebellious spirit fit right in with what was going on in history at the time.
    — Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 14 Nov. 2025
  • As a result, Bean was forced to grow up much too fast and Mills went through a rebellious phase.
    — Daryl H. Miller, latimes.com, 9 Feb. 2018
  • Like the clothes, the moves are far less balletic and much more rebellious—a welcome change that echoes the shift in time.
    — Maxwell Losgar, Marie Claire, 6 Mar. 2020
  • In addition, parents who are too strict might even end up with kids who are extra rebellious.
    — Taylor Grothe, Parents, 4 Apr. 2026
  • My 16-year-old daughter is going through a rebellious phase.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2026
  • The Opry had been wary of Cash's rebellious ways for some time, but this was the final straw.
    — Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 28 Aug. 2025
  • For some white people, being part of a white mob is the equivalent of a rebellious teen-age phase.
    — Victor Luckerson, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2021
  • Tsuk has the reputation of being the bit more rebellious of the two.
    — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, 21 July 2022
  • Parents in New Jersey with a rebellious teen may send her here.
    — Jessica Miller, The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Aug. 2020
  • This wretched regime is doomed to be overthrown by the risen populace and rebellious youth.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 1 Jan. 2026
  • The wildly rebellious press across Europe are a vibrant sign of its free speech.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 14 Feb. 2025
  • The final word is spoken in the streets by the people and the rebellious youth, those with nothing left to lose.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 1 Jan. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rebellious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: