disobey
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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disobeys,
present (3rd person singular)
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disobeyed,
past participle, past
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disobeying
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disobeysimple
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disobeyssimple
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have disobeyedperfect
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has disobeyedperfect
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am disobeyingprogressive
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are disobeyingprogressive
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is disobeyingprogressive
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have been disobeyingperfect progressive
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has been disobeyingperfect progressive
Past
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disobeyedsimple
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had disobeyedperfect
-
was disobeyingprogressive
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were disobeyingprogressive
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had been disobeyingperfect progressive
Future
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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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:
In lieu of suspensions, administrators invite offenders to reflect in a soothing place on the feelings and trauma that led them, say, to hit another student or disobey a teacher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
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
Now he would disobey her again and sell it.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Black hair disobeys temporality as surely as it does gravity ...
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2022
As events inevitably spiral and Tamar repeatedly dodges or disobeys orders to exfiltrate herself and Milad, credibility and plot contrivance do a wild dance.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2022
While each service has developed its own process, all are following existing rules for when a service member disobeys a lawful order.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 16, 2021
The titular character, a young sea monster, disobeys his parents and ventures above the surface, where he forms a close relationship with fellow sea monster Alberto.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2021
Call her name, I tell my mouth, but it, too, disobeys.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
"If I had disobeyed my mother and gone to New York, what might have happened to me?" asks Gláucia Fekete.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
"Irancell disobeyed the orders of the decision-making institutions in implementing the announced policies regarding the restriction of internet access in crisis situations," the agency said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 18, 2026
Under the 2024 Manual for Courts-Martial, “an order requiring the performance of a military duty or act may be inferred to be lawful, and it is disobeyed at the peril of the subordinate.”
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025
The recalls were issued because the system was programmed to run stop signs at slow speeds and because the system disobeyed other traffic laws.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2024
She’d never really disobeyed them before either, not like this, not in a way that mattered like this.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
At one point in the 1980s, bishops from the Society were excommunicated for disobeying Rome, but that decision was later reversed.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Separating from the military takes months, and will almost certainly be complicated by a red flag in one’s record for disobeying orders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Our purpose is simply to provide all readers insight into the laws and procedures associated with military orders and the challenges involved in identifying, questioning, and disobeying orders that are unlawful.
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025
Prometheus found himself chained to the side of a Scythian mountain for disobeying the gods, who believed their strength depended on keeping people in dumb and servile awe.
From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2025
“And what purpose is served by disobeying the Machine? Let’s consider motivations.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
