Heteronym
"Rebel" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say REB-el when it means a person who resists authority (noun), and rih-BEL when it means to resist or fight authority (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
REB-el
a person who resists authority
“The rebel fought for change.”
verb
rih-BEL
to resist or fight authority
“Teenagers often rebel.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| REB-el | noun | a person who resists authority |
| rih-BEL | verb | to resist or fight authority |
"Rebel" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say REB-el when it means a person who resists authority (noun), and rih-BEL when it means to resist or fight authority (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced REB-el, "rebel" is a noun meaning a person who resists authority. For example: "The rebel fought for change."
Pronounced rih-BEL, "rebel" is a verb meaning to resist or fight authority. For example: "Teenagers often rebel."
"Rebel" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “rebel”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.