intifada

noun

in·​ti·​fa·​da ˌin-tə-ˈfä-də 

plural intifadas

: uprising, rebellion

specifically : an armed uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

I was a college student at Tufts University in December 1987, when the first Palestinian intifada began.

—Hady Amr

… in 2000, the second intifada struck with the force of an earthquake. As Palestinians fought Israeli troops, the West Bank became all but ungovernable.

—Karen E. Lange

Examples of intifada in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington the month before: that’s what globalizing the intifada looks like. —Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 2 July 2025

Globalizing the intifada by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing. —ABC News, 29 June 2025

In the second intifada, Israel endured a staggering 138 suicide bombings, including 53 just in 2002, in addition to thousands of shootings and other less lethal forms of attack. —Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 28 July 2025

This is what the globalized intifada looks like: a celebration of violence dressed as justice, and a willful blindness to the cost of extremism. —Margaux Chetrit, Sun Sentinel, 23 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Arabic intifāḍa, literally, the act of shaking off

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for intifada

• arthropoda
• theravada
• armada
• entrada
• espada
• hamada
• jornada
• kannada
• posada
• quebrada
• ramada
• sagrada

Kids Definition

intifada

noun

in·​ti·​fa·​da ˌint-ə-ˈfäd-ə 

: uprising, rebellion

Etymology

Arabic intifāda, literally, "the act of shaking off"