revolutionary

revolutionary — adjective

1. connected with a revolution in which a group of people tries to remove a governm

1.形容詞B2
釋義

connected with a revolution in which a group of people tries to remove a government or leader and replace it with a new system.

例句

The revolutionary army finally took control of the capital after months of heavy fighting.

attributive: revolutionary army

Hui's grandfather was a well-known revolutionary leader in the 1970s.

同義詞
  • insurgent

    stronger focus on active fighting against the current government; usually a noun or attributive adjective

  • rebel

    broader — can describe anyone opposing authority, not necessarily seeking to replace the whole government

  • subversive

    more secretive; suggests working to weaken a system from within rather than open revolt

反義詞

文法句型

revolutionary + noun

be + revolutionary

用法筆記

Commonly used before a noun (attributive position) to describe armies, leaders, movements, ideas, or writings connected with a political revolution. The predicative use ('The ideas were revolutionary') almost always carries the INNOVATIVE sense instead — use the noun-modifier position to keep the POLITICAL sense clear.

常見錯誤

❌The new phone design was revolutionary because it had a foldable screen.' (this uses the INNOVATIVE sense, not POLITICAL CHANGE).
✅The revolutionary army took over the radio station during the uprising.
💡Use POLITICAL CHANGE only when the topic is actual revolution in government.

2. completely new and different from what existed before, causing a major change in

2.形容詞B2
釋義

completely new and different from what existed before, causing a major change in the way people think or do things — for example, a new technology that makes all earlier methods obsolete, or an idea that transforms a whole field.

例句

The company introduced a revolutionary battery that charges in just three minutes.

attributive: revolutionary + product noun

Tanvi's approach to teaching maths was revolutionary — children learned everything through games.

predicative: be + revolutionary

同義詞
  • groundbreaking

    very similar in meaning and formality; often used for scientific or artistic achievements

  • radical

    can overlap, but often carries a sense of extreme or drastic change; may sound more ideological

  • pioneering

    focuses on being the first to do something; often used for research and exploration

  • transformative

    emphasises the scale of the change; slightly more formal

反義詞

文法句型

revolutionary + noun

be + revolutionary

find + noun + revolutionary

用法筆記

This sense is the far more common usage in everyday and business English. It can appear before a noun ('a revolutionary product') or after a linking verb ('The idea was revolutionary'). The key difference from sense 1: if the topic is NOT about a political uprising, you mean this sense.

常見錯誤

❌The revolutionary leaders met in secret to plan the overthrow.' (POLITICAL sense, not INNOVATIVE).
✅The revolutionary new software let anyone edit videos on their phone.
💡If the topic is technology, design, or ideas — not governments — use INNOVATIVE.
❌This is a very revolutionary machine.' (overuse of 'very'; 'revolutionary' is already a strong word).
✅This is a truly revolutionary machine.
💡Use 'truly' or 'genuinely' instead of 'very'.

revolutionary — noun