rebellious
UK[rɪˈbeljəs]US[rɪˈbeljəs]
adj
showing a desire to resist authority, control, or convention.
adj
(of a thing) not easily controlled or kept in place.
Morpheme Breakdown
rebell
ious
rebell
to rebel
ious
adjective-forming suffix
Etymology
the word rebellious is built on the latin verb 'bellare', meaning 'to wage war', prefixed with 're-' to indicate 'again'. the core latin term 'rebellis' described someone who renews a war or revolt. the english adjective was formed by appending the suffix '-ious', which denotes a quality or state. thus, the literal sense of 'characterized by waging war again' evolved into the modern abstract meaning of defying or resisting established authority.
Analysis
Structure: rebell (to rebel) + ious (adjective-forming suffix)
rebell is from latin 'rebellare', meaning 'to wage war again, to revolt'. ious is a latin-derived suffix forming adjectives meaning 'full of' or 'characterized by'.
Examples
the teacher struggled with a class of rebellious teenagers.
he has always had a rebellious streak, refusing to follow the crowd.
she tried to tame her rebellious curls with a strong hair gel.