disoblige
Americanverb (used with object)
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to refuse or neglect to oblige; act contrary to the desire or convenience of; fail to accommodate.
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to give offense to; affront.
to be disobliged by a tactless remark.
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to cause inconvenience to; incommode.
to be disobliged by an uninvited guest.
verb
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to disregard the desires of
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to slight; insult
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informal to cause trouble or inconvenience to
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disoblige
1595–1605; < Middle French desobliger, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + obliger to oblige
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:
You would make yourself an object for the laughter and remarks of your shipmates; and would disoblige your owners, who, after this voyage, have promised you the command of a vessel.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 5 by Various
"I am sorry to disoblige you, Mr. Tom Thornton; but I must respectfully decline to give you any information on that point," I answered, firmly.
From Seek and Find or The Adventures of a Smart Boy by Oliver Optic
Shortly afterwards Addison went to him and said, "that some particular friends, whom he could not disoblige, insisted on its being acted."
From The Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 1 New Edition by Alexander Pope
"He's a good sort of man, and won't disoblige me, I'll warrant."
From The Gipsy (Vols I & II) A Tale by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
Then I must leave your Realm, and bid Adieu, In spite of your fond Passion, or my own; For I can never disoblige my Father, Though by it I were sure to gain an Empire.
From Ponteach The Savages of America by Montrose Jonas Moses
A man, that saw, and loved, and disobliged, Is banished, and is mad, all in a moment.
From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 02 by Sir Walter Scott
Cit.—And he has not disobliged you at all, has he?
From The Complete English Tradesman (1839 ed.) by Daniel Defoe
Possibly after I have disobliged him so much, he may be glad to have her so easily provided for, with money already raised; especially if he has a design to marry himself, as I hear.
From A Letter Book Selected with an Introduction on the History and Art of Letter-Writing by George Saintsbury
In the next place, he invariably disobliged, and refused the applications, of any persons on whose behalf he understood Lysander to be interested, and thus gradually undermined his power.
From Plutarch's Lives, Volume II by Aubrey Stewart
What an enemy is a light and trifling spirit!—I was grieved because I had disobliged my mother.
From Religion in Earnest A Memorial of Mrs. Mary Lyth, of York by John Lyth
Granted, Sir Chris Bryant was almost as disobliging about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor 15 years ago, as an opposition MP, when there were calls then for him to be sacked as the government's trade envoy.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026
A few are offering the odd disobliging word about Mr Dowden, suggesting he never wanted to be party chairman in the first place and was very disappointed to be demoted from being culture secretary.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2022
With bizarre exemptions such as these, is it any wonder that the British public is increasingly disobliging and restless?
From The Guardian ● Sep. 19, 2020
The reviewers were disobliging and they included me.
From The Guardian ● May 15, 2017
It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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