Definition of RENEGADE (original) (raw)
1
: a deserter from one faith, cause, or allegiance to another
2
: an individual who rejects lawful or conventional behavior
1
: having deserted a faith, cause, or religion for a hostile one
Synonyms
Examples of renegade in a Sentence
Noun
The group was full of free spirits and renegades who challenged every assumption of what art should be. She regaled him with stories about pirates and renegades on the high seas.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
To someone, the renegade and pop-culture memes might be worth a few months’ rent. —
Hank Sanders, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025 The _renegades_’ aim was to alert the people in their outies’ lives of the horrors innies experience. —Judy Berman, TIME, 17 Jan. 2025
Do Not Disturb follows Karegeya’s life from African herd boy to BMW-driving government spy to renegade refugee who fell prey to the boredom, loneliness, and conspiracies of exile. —Claude Gatebuke, The New York Review of Books, 10 June 2021
Instead, the trade press has attacked Gascón for social media posts uncovered by a renegade freelancer, Sarah Hagi, who identifies as a black Muslim and who is Canadian but writes hit-pieces for U.S. media. —Armond White, National Review, 5 Feb. 2025 Indeed, the most compelling wines of the Vin de France share some version of a renegade origin story: Landmark wines rejected by an AOC due to petty bureaucratic technicalities. —Anna Lee C. Iijima, Bon Appétit, 22 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for renegade 
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Spanish renegado, from Medieval Latin renegatus, from past participle of renegare to deny, from Latin re- + negare to deny — more at negate
First Known Use
Noun
circa 1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
circa 1611, in the meaning defined above
Adjective
1636, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of renegade was circa 1611
Dictionary Entries Near renegade
Cite this Entry
“Renegade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/renegade. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
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Last Updated: 10 Feb 2025 - Updated example sentences
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