disobedience

[dis-uh-bee-dee-uh ns]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR disobedience ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

lack of obedience or refusal to comply; disregard or transgression.

Origin of disobedience

1350–1400; Middle English < Old French desobedience, equivalent to des- dis-¹ + obedience obedience

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for disobedience

revolution, violation, infraction, recalcitrance, unruliness, dereliction, insurgence, stubbornness, insubordination, rebellion, mutiny, strike, sabotage, riot, infringement, perversity, defiance, refractoriness, sedition, revolt

Examples from the Web for disobedience

Contemporary Examples of disobedience

Disobedience of the rules is a mainstay of nonviolent resistance.
Love Trumped Rules for Fired Methodist Rev. Frank Schaefer
Gene Robinson
December 20, 2013
Or will it intimidate the country into greater obedience, fearful that disobedience will provoke a whirlwind?
After Beirut Bombing of Wissan al-Hassan, a Wary Calm in Lebanon
Jamie Dettmer
October 30, 2012
So I was brought up before a military tribunal for disobedience.
‘Soldaten: Secret WWII Transcripts of German POWs’ by Soenke Neitzel & Harald Welzer
Sönke Neitzel, Harald Welzer
September 24, 2012
The security forces also attacked a local mosque, which they believed was encouraging the disobedience.
Libya's Muammar Gaddafi Tried to Execute Me
Fadel Lamen
March 1, 2011
Only days later, however, they maimed her in retribution for her disobedience.
An Unspeakable Crime
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
December 28, 2009

Historical Examples of disobedience

The most malign of all these dangers today is disregard and disobedience of law.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Evelyn had in some way managed to make her a party to her disobedience.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
My hardships, I felt, were by reason of my disobedience to God's will.
Biography of a Slave
Charles Thompson
Not a symptom of disobedience during the rest of the voyage.
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Disobedience has never been a fault amongst us, and I am sure you will not be the one to inaugurate it.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for disobedience

disobedience

noun

lack of obedience

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for disobedience

c.1400, from Old French desobedience, from Vulgar Latin *disobedientia (replacing Latin inobedientia) from Latin dis- (see dis-) + obedientia (see obedience). The English word replaced earlier desobeissance in this sense, and inobedience (c.1200).