disloyalty
Americannoun
-
the quality of being disloyal; lack of loyalty; unfaithfulness.
- Synonyms:
- subversion
-
violation of allegiance or duty, as to a government.
-
a disloyal act.
noun
Synonym Usage
Disloyalty, perfidy, treachery, treason imply betrayal of trust. Disloyalty applies to any violation of loyalty, whether to a person, a cause, or one's country, and whether in thought or in deeds: to suspect disloyalty in a friend. Perfidy implies deliberate breaking of faith or of one's pledges and promises, on which others are relying: It is an act of perfidy to cheat innocent people. Treachery implies being secretly traitorous but seeming friendly and loyal: In treachery deceit is added to disloyalty. Treason is performing overt acts to help the enemies of one's country or government: Acting to aid a hostile power is treason.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disloyalty
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French desloiaute, Old French desleaute, equivalent to desleal disloyal + -te -ty 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Disloyalty, in the form of joining the glee club, is sedition.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2021
"Disloyalty and ingratitude are two of the worst of human traits," wrote Loeb.
From Time Magazine Archive
Disloyalty can as well be the product of omission as an overt act .
From Time Magazine Archive
Disloyalty to the law and the distinctive rites of Judaism was treason.
From The Makers and Teachers of Judaism by Kent, Charles Foster
Disloyalty goes beyond mere thought; would strike at the person of its lord.
From Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House), Retold from the Japanese Originals Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 2 by De Benneville, James S. (James Seguin)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
