loyal

[loi-uhl]

adjective

1. faithful to one's sovereign, government, or state.

   a loyal subject.

   Synonyms: patriotic
   Antonyms: treacherous, faithless, disloyal, treasonous, traitorous

2. faithful to one's oath, commitments, or obligations.

   to be loyal to a vow.

   Synonyms: true, steadfast, staunch, devoted, constant

3. faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity.

   a loyal friend.

4. characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc..

   loyal conduct.

loyal

/ ˈlɔɪəl /

adjective

1. having or showing continuing allegiance

2. faithful to one's country, government, etc

3. of or expressing loyalty

Other Word Forms

• loyally adverb
• loyalness noun
• nonloyal adjective
• nonloyally adverb
• overloyal adjective
• overloyally adverb
• quasi-loyal adjective
• quasi-loyally adverb
• superloyal adjective
• superloyally adverb
• unloyal adjective
• unloyally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of loyal¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French, Old French loial, lei(a)l, from Latin lēgālis legal

Word History and Origins

Origin of loyal¹

C16: from Old French loial, leial, from Latin lēgālis _legal

Synonym Study

See faithful.

Example Sentences

Xi’s campaign, first launched in late 2012 to combat rampant corruption, has become a wave of ceaseless purges aimed at keeping officials loyal and on their toes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ouattara enjoys strong support in the north, where his base among Dioula-speaking communities remains loyal - and he opted to launch his campaign in the west where he has previously picked up votes.

Read more on BBC

Many are protected by militia groups loyal to the Myanmar military and it is unclear whether they have also lost access to Starlink services they once relied on.

Read more on BBC

The business of making equipment and supplies used for medical research “historically has been a good area for investment, because scientists tend to be loyal,” Albertini said.

Read more on MarketWatch

Forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised government said on Tuesday they had repelled an attack by Al-Qaeda in the country's south that left nine people dead on both sides.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• ardent 
• devoted 
• dutiful 
• patriotic 
• staunch 
• steadfast 
• true 
• trustworthy