bringing about or involving a sudden, dramatic, and important change; completely new and different from what existed before
The company unveiled a revolutionary smartphone with a foldable screen.
Scientists announced a revolutionary therapy that could cure a rare disease.
✦ Derived from revolution + -ary, first used in English in the late 18th century to describe things connected with the French Revolution and later any major change.
a person who supports, plans, or takes part in a political revolution
Che Guevara is remembered as a revolutionary who fought for social justice.
The government arrested the young revolutionary after the protest.
✦ Noun use began in the early 19th century to label people involved in or advocating revolution.
relating to or supporting a political revolution
The rebels spread revolutionary pamphlets calling for independence.
She sang old revolutionary songs that roused the crowd.
✦ The political sense grew out of its association with the French and later other political revolutions during the late 18th and 19th centuries.
