disconnect
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to sever or terminate a connection, as of a telephone; hang up.
State your business and disconnect.
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to withdraw into one's private world.
When social pressures become too great, she simply disconnects.
noun
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an act or instance of disconnecting, especially the suspension of telephone or cable TV service for nonpayment of service charges.
-
a lack of communication or agreement.
There is a huge disconnect between management and employees.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disconnectsimple
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disconnectssimple
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have disconnectedperfect
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has disconnectedperfect
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am disconnectingprogressive
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are disconnectingprogressive
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is disconnectingprogressive
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have been disconnectingperfect progressive
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has been disconnectingperfect progressive
Past
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disconnectedsimple
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had disconnectedperfect
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was disconnectingprogressive
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were disconnectingprogressive
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had been disconnectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disconnect
Explanation
When you disconnect something, you detach or separate it from something else. If you work plowing driveways during the winter, you need to disconnect the plow from your truck in the spring. You can disconnect toy train cars, and you can also disconnect your laptop from its charger. In fact, unplugging electrical appliances is another way to disconnect something. Disconnect also means a lack of understanding or connection. So there might be a disconnect between you and your brother, or between what a politician promises to do and what she actually does. Disconnect combines dis-, "the opposite of" with connect, from the Latin conectere, "join together."
Vocabulary lists containing disconnect
Vocabulary from the Poem “Touchscreen” by Marshall Davis Jones
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Flying Lessons & Other Stories
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Mexican WhiteBoy
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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:
This disconnect between managers and staff is something employment lawyer Jodie Hill is familiar with.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
This disconnect between math and gut instinct reveals that the game isn’t actually just about numbers — it’s about utility and regret, which has sparked an animated discussion in the comments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
The DWP then came in to disconnect the system on the customer side of the meter, spokesperson Riana Basuel wrote in an email.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Usually, though, he cranks up country music to “just disconnect for a little bit.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Through Pickwick, for example, we met the man at the central telephone exchange whose department handled orders to connect and disconnect lines.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
“This space is on fire despite stock price disconnects YTD for basically all of AI semis,” Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes wrote on Friday.
From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026
Kill Switch Feature: This automatically disconnects your internet if the VPN connection drops, preventing your data from being exposed accidentally.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
The GDP report itself contains some troubling disconnects: Americans’ disposable personal income remained flat after inflation, despite their robust spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
But “a switch goes off in a narcissist’s brain that disconnects them emotionally from you.”
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2025
When I don’t respond, he disconnects after a curt “Try to remember.”
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
The findings, published in ACS Nano on July 16, 2026, suggest that collagen begins losing its precise molecular organization before its fibers become thinner, fragmented, or disconnected.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
“But the problem now is that they’ve become quite disconnected from fundamentals.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Not disconnected from the action it is trying to officiate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Given the proximity to the civil rights movement, it’s impossible to hear Hathaway’s “You’ve Got a Friend” as disconnected from the struggles of Black people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
I had never felt more lonely or disconnected in my life.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
"I was bored sometimes, and that's okay," West recalled one recent evening at a city community garden where detox participants met to share their struggles and joys of disconnecting.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
Nor does it reckon with data on straight men’s growing acceptance of homosexuality or the role of technology in connecting and disconnecting people, or evidence of declining associational activities in general.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
But the fear of missing out, or “FOMO,” that comes with disconnecting can be equally daunting, some say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2026
The “intention-action gap” is massive — 81% of Gen Z says they wish disconnecting were easier, but revealed-preference theory suggests we should only believe what they do, not what they wish.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2025
They came together and fell apart, connecting and disconnecting to form an infinite number of shapes.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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.
