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:
Navy captain, for participating in a video calling on troops to disobey illegal orders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
He and his representatives are now threatening Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Iran and Greenland, with Venezuela serving as an object lesson of what may happen if a country dares to disobey his wishes.
From Salon ● Jan. 6, 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
If an order is legally ambiguous, a service member will only find out whether it was lawful to disobey at a court-martial, where a military judge decides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
“Good. We have to reduce your bile. If the mother has too much bile, the child will lack vigor and disobey his parents.”
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Black hair disobeys temporality as surely as it does gravity ...
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2022
She disobeys her grandfather’s warnings by befriending the white brother and sister across the street, and a complex relationship forms as she both envies and emulates their freedom.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 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
Anyone who disobeyed decorum "might have some legal issues of your own," the officer warned.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 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
She knew the only way they could be together is if she disobeyed her father, but in a sense, it would be healing the whole family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2025
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
He’d already disobeyed his mother by leaving the apartment while she was at work.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
A copy of the order seen by the BBC says that disobeying it could lead to imprisonment, fines or assets being seized.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 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
“We believe, however, that given the high societal importance of this topic, it was crucial to conduct a study of this kind, even if it meant disobeying the rules.”
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2025
Prometheus found himself chained to the side of a Scythian mountain for disobeying the gods, who believed their strength depended on keeping people in dumb and servile awe.
From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2025
They also knew the punishments for disobeying the rules, and they knew them well, because they had broken every rule in the Boxton Creek Home.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
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