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

See Examples For:

disserve disserved disserving

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

In short, sir, in seeking to disserve you, he had accumulated against himself a load of suspicions.”

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 20 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

“This omission disserved Times readers. The paper says its reporting was thorough and ‘in line with our editorial standards.’”

From Washington Times ● Jan. 31, 2023

Survivors long disserved by formal institutions are turning away from systems that too readily dismiss them.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2022

This was a very curious decision that disserved readers.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2022

That commitment has been disserved by today’s decision.”

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2020

This I shall regard with approbation; but by the contrary I shall consider myself as disserved.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 21 of 55 1624 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. by Robertson, James Alexander

Gray tried to appease several masters and ended up disserving and disgracing everyone, from the president to the bureau on down to himself.

From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2018

We are serving the public but also disserving it.

From Washington Post

Miss Kennedy smirked, disserving, coral lips, at first, at second.

From Ulysses by Joyce, James