I heard this on a radio program this morning.

Problem:
This is a mispronunciation that almost hits the mark.

Explanation:
The talk-show host on the radio program was referring to a politician who had stirred up a crowd of unhappy voters.

The compound noun “rabble-rouser” was what the host should have said.

The noun “rabble” means mob or disorderly crowd.

The noun “rouser” means someone who brings others out of a state of apathy, depression, or sleep.

The host mispronounced “rabble-rouser” as “rebel-rouser” — almost hitting the mark in that rebels can be disorderly, too, but failing to recognize that rebels need not be brought out of apathy because, by definition, rebels are passionate.

For fun, I searched Google for each of the following compound nouns (with the quotation marks) and got about the indicated numbers of matches:

• “rabble-rouser” — 393,000 matches
• “rebel-rouser” — 124,000 matches

This tells me that Web authors favor “rabble-rouser” over “rebel-rouser” by a pitiful ratio of 3.17:1.

Solution:
“Rabble-rouser”