disobey
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- disobeyer noun
Etymology
Origin of disobey
1350–1400; Middle English disobeien < Old French desobeir, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + obeir to obey
Explanation
When you don't follow the rules — especially when they come from a teacher, parent, boss or other authority figure — you disobey. A first-grader disobeys his teacher when he can't help running in the halls of the school, and a dog will disobey your shouted commands if you haven't trained her very well. When you obey someone's rules, you follow them strictly. The verb disobey combines the Latin obedire, "serve, pay attention to, or listen," with dis, which here means "not." The original Latin version of disobey, inobedire, used in rather than dis.
Vocabulary lists containing disobey
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"How to Train a Guide Dog" and "The Wonder Dog"
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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.
But U.S. military law also requires them to disobey “unlawful orders.”
From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026
“The constitutional protections in our military structures depend on the idea that there are humans who would, we hope, disobey illegal orders. With fully autonomous weapons we don’t necessarily have those protections.”
From Salon • Feb. 26, 2026
“You can’t put on the screen that it’s right for a young girl to disobey her father,” Nava recalled Quintanilla saying.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2025
If it is unclear whether an order is illegal, the law’s message is simple: Obey and you are likely protected; disobey and you shoulder the risk.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025
This time I was not inclined to disobey him.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
