disobey
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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disobeys,
present (3rd person singular)
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disobeyed,
past participle, past
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disobeying
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disobeysimple
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disobeyssimple
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have disobeyedperfect
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has disobeyedperfect
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am disobeyingprogressive
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are disobeyingprogressive
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is disobeyingprogressive
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have been disobeyingperfect progressive
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has been disobeyingperfect progressive
Past
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disobeyedsimple
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had disobeyedperfect
-
was disobeyingprogressive
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were disobeyingprogressive
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had been disobeyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disobey
1350–1400; Middle English disobeien < Old French desobeir, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + obeir to obey
Explanation
When you don't follow the rules — especially when they come from a teacher, parent, boss or other authority figure — you disobey. A first-grader disobeys his teacher when he can't help running in the halls of the school, and a dog will disobey your shouted commands if you haven't trained her very well. When you obey someone's rules, you follow them strictly. The verb disobey combines the Latin obedire, "serve, pay attention to, or listen," with dis, which here means "not." The original Latin version of disobey, inobedire, used in rather than dis.
Vocabulary lists containing disobey
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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.
See Examples For:
In lieu of suspensions, administrators invite offenders to reflect in a soothing place on the feelings and trauma that led them, say, to hit another student or disobey a teacher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
“The constitutional protections in our military structures depend on the idea that there are humans who would, we hope, disobey illegal orders. With fully autonomous weapons we don’t necessarily have those protections.”
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2026
“You can’t put on the screen that it’s right for a young girl to disobey her father,” Nava recalled Quintanilla saying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2025
I was also briefed multiple times on my duty to disobey unlawful orders.
From Slate ● Dec. 3, 2025
He thought she would pile up strong walls of objection, and for one of the few times in his life he would disobey her wish no matter how strong her objection.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
“When he disobeys the rules and gets called out, he goes, ‘Well those moral rules are unjust.’”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2025
Black hair disobeys temporality as surely as it does gravity ...
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2022
While each service has developed its own process, all are following existing rules for when a service member disobeys a lawful order.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 16, 2021
The titular character, a young sea monster, disobeys his parents and ventures above the surface, where he forms a close relationship with fellow sea monster Alberto.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2021
Call her name, I tell my mouth, but it, too, disobeys.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
"If I had disobeyed my mother and gone to New York, what might have happened to me?" asks Gláucia Fekete.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
"Irancell disobeyed the orders of the decision-making institutions in implementing the announced policies regarding the restriction of internet access in crisis situations," the agency said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 18, 2026
The administration disobeyed that completely, and Boasberg has been understandably upset, which only got worse as he asked for more information and was repeatedly rebuffed.
From Slate ● Mar. 22, 2025
The recalls were issued because the system was programmed to run stop signs at slow speeds and because the system disobeyed other traffic laws.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2024
She’d disobeyed a direct order from a Son of the Six.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Back when Hal was still a novelty to the public, we see 10-year-old John disobeying his father’s TV ban to watch the hero’s first-ever interview on “60 Minutes.”
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Separating from the military takes months, and will almost certainly be complicated by a red flag in one’s record for disobeying orders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Our purpose is simply to provide all readers insight into the laws and procedures associated with military orders and the challenges involved in identifying, questioning, and disobeying orders that are unlawful.
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025
“Haddix so publicly disobeying this Court and then profiting from her disobedience by sharing it with a national audience will only incentivize future defendants to engage in similar misconduct unless this Court decisively intervenes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2024
If I help him, I could end up riding the pine this season, and if I don’t help Boy21 acclimate to Bellmont, I’d be disobeying Coach for the first time in my life.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
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.
