disobedient
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of disobedient
1400–50; late Middle English < Old French desobedient, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + obedient obedient
Explanation
Someone who's disobedient doesn't follow the rules. If your dog won't sit, stay, or heel, you can describe her as disobedient. When you refuse to obey someone in authority, you're disobedient. A frustrated substitute teacher might describe the entire second grade class as disobedient, and you may try to train your cat to use the toilet but find her to be a disobedient pet. The word comes from combining obedient — with its root of oboedientem, Latin for "obey," — with the prefix dis, or "do the opposite of."
Vocabulary lists containing disobedient
Power Prefix: dis-
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dis-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: dis-
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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.
“I promise to continue to be disobedient so you can belong to a world in all your complete wildness as a young woman.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2026
I can't say that my own stubborn, disobedient terrier provides me with any of the benefits that the first domesticated wolves bestowed on our ancestors.
From BBC • Nov. 13, 2025
Noem reported that the puppy was disobedient and out “having the time of her life” during a pheasant hunting trip and that the animal later attacked and killed a neighbor's chickens.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2024
From March onward, “instead of dividing into small groups and blocking roads, we will hold disobedient gatherings with many people. And where we cannot be ignored,” the group said in a statement.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2024
But I’d recently turned into a cranky, disobedient girl, and so, with my dinner hardly touched, I ran to my room and slammed the door.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
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.
