- past tense form of discipline.
- past participle of discipline.
disciplined
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disciplined
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; discipline + -ed 2
Explanation
People who are disciplined are either rule-followers or they are controlled and efficient. A disciplined runner who's training for a marathon has a regular, daily exercise routine. Your disciplined puppy might be the star of her obedience class, the very best at "sit" and "stay." And your cousin who speaks six languages is also disciplined — she studies, reads, and practices speaking for hours every day. Disciplined comes from the noun discipline, which has come to mean "punishment," but is rooted in the Latin word disciplina, "teaching or knowledge," and also "military discipline."
Vocabulary lists containing disciplined
Ghost
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"La Vida Robot" and "Reading, Writing and... Recreation"
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From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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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.
“Our mission—to entertain the world—is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources,” they told employees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The audit said the state agency’s leadership disciplined the officer but did not provide any details.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The four female students were identified and disciplined, according to officials at San Marcos High School and the Santa Barbara Unified School District, who did not release the students’ names or detail the discipline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
This will require a smarter balance sheet along with disciplined capital allocation and charging realistic rates on loans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
But those walks were disciplined; they were not meanders of discovery like Vincent’s on the heath.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
