rebellious
re·bel·lious/ɹəˈbɛliəs/adjective
rebellious is spelled R-E-B-E-L-L-I-O-U-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables (re·bel·lious). It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, rebellious means “Showing rebellion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in rebellious?
| Letters | 10: R-E-B-E-L-L-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: re·bel·lious |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 18,064th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is rebellious?
Rebellious appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rebellious?
- /ɹəˈbɛliəs/
- /ɹəˈbɛljəs/
Rebellious has 3 syllables, split re·bel·lious in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rebellious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rebellious
- more rebellious comparative
- most rebellious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rebellious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Showing rebellion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rebellious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense showing rebellion:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rebelle, rétif |
| German | aufsässig, rebellisch |
| Portuguese | rebelde |
| Spanish | rebelde, levantisco, contestatario |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rebellious come from?
From Middle English rebellious; equivalent to rebel + -ious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).