disserve

American  

[dis-surv] / dɪsˈsɜrv /

verb (used with object)

disserved, disserving

1. to be a disservice to; serve harmfully or injuriously.

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disserve British  

/ dɪsˈsɜːv /

verb

1. archaic (tr) to do a disservice to

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Other Word Forms

• self-disserving adjective

Etymology

Origin of disserve

First recorded in 1610–20; dis- ¹ + serve

Example Sentences

Another change would “cause substantial disruption and disserve the public interest,” the administration said.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 6, 2022

To suggest otherwise, especially in these fractious times, is to disserve the electoral process.

From Salon • Oct. 27, 2020

Bright also said the government was doing a disserve to Americans by playing down the possibility that it could take years to develop a vaccine that could be ready for mass distribution.

From Washington Post • May 14, 2020

“In a case that will never see the inside of a courtroom,” Mr. Mukasey added, “it can disserve your client if you are courtroom-style cautious.”

From New York Times • Aug. 27, 2018

But under the conditions imposed by this reserve, the volume contains, I think, everything, or nearly everything, which may best serve him with the majority of lovers of poetry, nothing which may disserve him.

From Selections from the Prose Works of Matthew Arnold by Johnson, William Savage