disqualify
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
- disqualifiable adjective
- disqualification noun
- disqualifier noun
- nondisqualifying adjective
- undisqualifiable adjective
- undisqualified adjective
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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"Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner
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Because They Marched
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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.
“Getting arrested and convicted for multiple crimes, including carrying a concealed loaded gun, should disqualify Estuardo in this race,” Ugarte said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
RMDs can push you into a higher tax bracket, disqualify you from income-sensitive deductions and credits, and trigger higher Medicare premiums.
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
Doing the Roth instead would leave that 60-year-old with a higher adjusted gross income, which could disqualify the person from other tax breaks or push them into a higher tax bracket.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 11, 2026
Should you instantly disqualify anyone with a blemish on their record?
From MarketWatch • Dec. 12, 2025
In fact, about half of European countries allow all people behind bars to vote, while others disqualify only a small number from the polls.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
