disbar
Americanverb (used with object)
-
disbars,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disbarred,
past participle, past
-
disbarring
present participle
verb
Usage
Disbar is sometimes wrongly used where debar is meant: he was debarred (not disbarred ) from attending meetings
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disbarsimple
-
disbarssimple
-
have disbarredperfect
-
has disbarredperfect
-
am disbarringprogressive
-
are disbarringprogressive
-
is disbarringprogressive
-
have been disbarringperfect progressive
-
has been disbarringperfect progressive
Past
-
disbarredsimple
-
had disbarredperfect
-
was disbarringprogressive
-
were disbarringprogressive
-
had been disbarringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disbar
Explanation
To disbar is to officially take away a lawyer’s license to practice law. If a practicing lawyer gets caught doing something illegal or crazy, it’s time to disbar. “The bar” is the exam that lawyers-to-be must pass after law school so they can practice law. The word bar comes from the wooden bar that surrounds the judge, where the barrister (lawyer) states a case. If you're disbarred, you can no longer practice. A lawyer found guilty of a crime or any other unethical behavior could be disbarred. Getting disbarred is a serious matter — you can tell because it happens to lawyers on TV shows all the time.
Vocabulary lists containing disbar
Just Mercy
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
One of Us Is Lying
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 9–15, 2021
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
That is why the report and recommendation to disbar Giuliani matters.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2023
Officials in Georgia had been weighing whether to disbar Wood over his efforts, holding a disciplinary trial earlier this year.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2023
But evidence of additional misconduct during Girardi’s decades of practicing law in California have since emerged, and in January, a State Bar court recommended the state Supreme Court disbar him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
“The plan was to disbar me so I wouldn’t be relevant, and that by and large happened,” he says.
From The Verge ● Mar. 10, 2022
"I'll then go on record as asking you to disbar yourself from this hearing on the grounds that you are not an impartial judge of the justice in my case."
From The Fourth R by George Oliver Smith
He worked as a lawyer in Texas before he was disbarred following his conviction in 2014.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Capitol also are among those “indicted, prosecuted, disbarred and/or jailed,” Kimball wrote.
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
He has since been disbarred in New York and Washington.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
The State Bar Court will rule on whether Romeyn and Khalifeh committed professional misconduct and could recommend that their licenses to practice law be suspended or that the attorneys be disbarred.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
They’d have him disbarred; Bud Gleason would no doubt see that Hirsshorn foreclosed on his house.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
These associations are used to disbarring people who, say, defrauded their clients or were utterly incompetent in court over and over again, et cetera.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2025
Officials at the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England would explore introducing a disbarring service, he said, something previously seen as unnecessary following reviews of NHS management.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2023
The panel could recommend disbarring him, suspending his D.C. law license or formally censuring him.
From Reuters ● Dec. 15, 2022
Air Force’s suspending and disbarring official is monitoring Booz Allen’s handling of the Snowden” case, Dorrian said.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2013
Besides, there had been talk of disbarring him from the practice of his profession, and I, as a lawyer, had been urged to instigate that proceeding.
From The Boss of Little Arcady by Harry Leon Wilson
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.
