Meaning & use

revolutionary

adjective·Academic

Involving or causing a complete, dramatic, and often sudden change to an existing system.

See it in a sentence

The new vaccine was hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough in modern medicine.

Her revolutionary approach to teaching transformed how the whole school operated.

A note on using this word

Revolutionary also functions as a noun for a person who actively works to bring about political revolution.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

conventionaltraditional

Another way to use it

2. noun

A person who takes part in or supports a political revolution.

The young revolutionary spent years in exile before the government finally fell.

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