insubordination
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of insubordination
First recorded in 1785–95; in- 3 ( def. ) + subordinat(e) ( def. ) + -ion ( def. )
Explanation
People in charge — like bosses and teachers — hate insubordination, which means that someone is defying their authority. When a student is disrespectful to a teacher or says something like "I won't do this homework!", that's an act of insubordination. If a teacher didn't do what the principal wanted, that would also be insubordination. This word is often used in relation to the military, where giving and taking orders is extremely important. A soldier who commits insubordination — by disobeying an order — can be in a lot of trouble. Anywhere there's insubordination, someone with less power (a subordinate) is giving someone with more power a whole lot of trouble.
Vocabulary lists containing insubordination
100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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Ender's Game
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The Princess Bride
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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:
Shotwell, according to the New York Times, also asked staff involved with the letter to stop “flooding” company communication channels and said she would consider ignoring her email to be insubordination.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
He attacked the qualifications of her replacement and told him he wasn’t welcome in a way that could only indicate insubordination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
He stands accused of corruption, money-laundering, gross misconduct, insubordination and bullying public officers and six other acts of wrongdoing.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2024
Truman fired MacArthur for his insubordination, at some political risk.
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2024
I sit in the car on the long ride back trying to keep rage alive by rehearsing what I’ll say when Ted fires me for insubordination.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
She saw peeping and smiling at the edge of the door a neighbor's face, that encouraged her insubordinations.
From The Chase of Saint-Castin and Other Stories of the French in the New World by Catherwood, Mary Hartwell
I shall report the whole of your insubordinations in a properly written-out despatch.
From In the King's Name The Cruise of the "Kestrel" by Fenn, George Manville
Many of the foreign officers spoke little, if any, English, and mutual jealousies and insubordinations soon manifested themselves in the little band.
From History of Cuba; or, Notes of a Traveller in the Tropics Being a Political, Historical, and Statistical Account of the Island, from its First Discovery to the Present Time by Ballou, Maturin Murray
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.
