disqualify
Americanverb (used with object)
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disqualifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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disqualified,
past participle, past
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disqualifying
present participle
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to deprive of qualification or fitness; render unfit; incapacitate.
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to deprive of legal, official, or other rights or privileges; declare ineligible or unqualified.
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Sports. to deprive of the right to participate in or win a contest because of a violation of the rules.
verb
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to make unfit or unqualified
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to make ineligible, as for entry to an examination
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to debar (a player or team) from a sporting contest
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to divest or deprive of rights, powers, or privileges
disqualified from driving
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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disqualificationnoun
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disqualifiernoun
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disqualifiableadjective
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nondisqualifyingadjective
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undisqualifiableadjective
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undisqualifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disqualifysimple
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disqualifiessimple
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have disqualifiedperfect
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has disqualifiedperfect
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am disqualifyingprogressive
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are disqualifyingprogressive
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is disqualifyingprogressive
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have been disqualifyingperfect progressive
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has been disqualifyingperfect progressive
Past
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disqualifiedsimple
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had disqualifiedperfect
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was disqualifyingprogressive
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were disqualifyingprogressive
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had been disqualifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disqualify
Explanation
To disqualify someone is to not allow them to participate, or to make them unfit for participation. Turning eleven would disqualify a person from playing on a soccer team for kids ten and under. Judges will disqualify a marathon runner if they discover she's actually wearing roller skates, and a baseball player's age may disqualify him from playing on a certain team. Being blind disqualifies people from driving, and a criminal history can disqualify someone from working at a school. Disqualify adds the "do the opposite of" prefix dis- to qualify, which comes from the medieval Latin root qualificare, "to attribute a quality to."
Vocabulary lists containing disqualify
Power Prefix: dis-
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dis-
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"Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner
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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.
See Examples For:
Yet, under current regulations, such tattoos could disqualify recruits and subject active-duty personnel to discipline.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Ricardo Fort, a sports marketing expert who previously led global sponsorship teams at Visa and Coca-Cola, said he doesn’t agree that a company’s industry should disqualify it from sponsorship deals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
"Unfortunately, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise."
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
This prosecutor’s relationship with a potential witness and victim raises questions about prosecutorial decision-making in the case, Robinson’s legal team said in a motion filed in state court to disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
This had better work, because if it doesn’t, Ranger Alford made it clear she’ll disqualify us.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
The conviction disqualifies her from continuing on the bench under Wisconsin law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026
Nothing you do or say, no matter how bizarre, illegal, grotesque or insufferably stupid as it may be disqualifies you.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2024
His nose is so gargantuan that he feels it disqualifies him from love.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2024
The justices were asked to decide whether just one type of criminal history disqualifies a person from a lighter sentence, or whether all three must be present for a disqualification.
From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
Another otherwise suitable candidate that disqualifies itself for equally obvious reasons is the African buffalo.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
District Judge J. Michael Seabright disqualified Essayli as acting U.S. attorney last October, finding he was “not lawfully serving” in the top role.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Muluh was disqualified and not allowed to reattempt the lift by judges, who ruled on a separate technical infringement.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Its letter to the FCC and the Office of Government Ethics also requests that Carr be disqualified from further participation in the commission’s decision on the Paramount-Warner Bros.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
It was awarded to her seven years late, after three weightlifters who finished above her at London 2012 were disqualified for doping offences.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
If I get it late, we’ll be disqualified.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
The panel upheld a lower court’s order disqualifying Chattah.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
He'd always wanted to join the military like his grandfather and older brothers but unfortunately has a disqualifying heart condition.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The Epstein files revealed a network that was hidden, vast and tied to clearly disqualifying conduct.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
It allows your assets to be used for your son’s benefit without disqualifying him from SSI.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 18, 2026
“There was nothing on the audition flyer about the talent show disqualifying certain types of acts, right?”
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
