disallow

American  

[dis-uh-lau] / ˌdɪs əˈlaʊ /

verb (used with object)

• disallows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• disallowed,
  past participle,  past
• disallowing
  present participle

1. to refuse to allow; reject; veto.

   to disallow a claim for compensation.

2. to refuse to admit the truth or validity of.

   to disallow the veracity of a report.

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disallow British  

/ ˌdɪsəˈlaʊ /

verb

1. to reject as untrue or invalid

2. to cancel

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• disallowableness
  noun
• disallowance
  noun
• disallowable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• disallowing
  present
• disallowed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• disallow
  simple
• disallows
  simple
• have disallowed
  perfect
• has disallowed
  perfect
• am disallowing
  progressive
• are disallowing
  progressive
• is disallowing
  progressive
• have been disallowing
  perfect progressive
• has been disallowing
  perfect progressive

Past

• disallowed
  simple
• had disallowed
  perfect
• was disallowing
  progressive
• were disallowing
  progressive
• had been disallowing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will disallow
  simple
• will have disallowed
  perfect
• will be disallowing
  progressive
• will have been disallowing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of disallow

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Old French word desallouer. See dis- ¹, allow

Explanation

When you disallow something, you prohibit it. Teachers usually disallow cell phones in their classrooms. You're most likely to come across the verb disallow in official or formal contexts, like a list of rules in a courtroom or within the wording of a law. Referees often disallow certain actions in sports matches, and prison wardens disallow many kinds of behavior by prisoners. The word comes from allow, with its root allouen, "to praise, approve of, or be pleased with," with the Latin prefix dis in front, here meaning "do the opposite of."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

disallow disallows disallowed disallowing

Now attorneys for the former action hero, 79, are requesting that court officials and law enforcement set up security protocols; disallow photography, video or audio recording; and tighten up who’s allowed in the courtroom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

The agreement says the EPA “will not terminate, indefinitely suspend, or disallow costs for a covered grant.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

Some, including Robinhood and SoFi, say they will disallow or limit allocations for people who have participated in IPOs in the past and have “flipped” shares, selling them within 30 days of the offering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

Bryan Mbeumo controlled the ball with his hand before Matheus Cunha scored, but the referee rejected a review to disallow it.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

The auctioneer gave her a sour look but did not disallow the bid.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

But his claim was rejected by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals under a 1994 precedent that disallows using such lawsuits to collaterally attack criminal convictions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

In New York, redistricting rules are set by a constitutional amendment that disallows mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025

Jin, who turned 30 in December, had faced an impending conscription because the law disallows most South Korean men from further delaying their services after they turn 30.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 18, 2023

They say the signature “should only include” name, title, college address and phone number, which faculty see as a ruling that disallows pronouns.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 30, 2023

The objection of Speusippus,—that irrational creatures are not to be admitted as witnesses,—Aristotle disallows, seeing that rational and irrational agree on the point; and the thing that seems to all, must be true.

From Moral Science; a Compendium of Ethics by Alexander Bain

It disallowed him from flying, made him take a deradicalization program and gave him an administrative job.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Denmark dominated early on and Mikkel Damsgaard fired against the post shortly after Isaksen had a goal disallowed for offside.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

The forward missed a big opportunity and had a goal disallowed for offside, which would have been his 980th top-flight goal, before being substituted midway through the second half.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

A rule promulgated in 2011 disallowed swaps tied to “gaming,” which the agency says includes bets on sports.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

However, any mathematician of the day would have scoffed at this line of reasoning; Archimedes used the tools of the infinite, which were so expressly disallowed by his mathematical colleagues.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Haaland’s push on England’s Elliott Anderson led to video replay disallowing a go-ahead strike, which briefly appeared to have given Norway a second-half lead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Webb confirmed the move after explaining why disallowing West Ham's last-ditch equaliser against Arsenal on Sunday was the correct decision.

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

Instead of disallowing conversations about “imminent real-world harm” and self-harm, it placed them in a category in which the model was instructed to simply “take extra care” with users.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025

What reason did the Court give for disallowing race to be among many explicit factors considered?

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2023

Another February 8 motion was aimed at disallowing the prosecution from using anything in the trial that Reggie had said to Rindlisbacher at the scene of the accident, and en route to the hospital.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Related Words

• forbid
• rebuff