loyal
Americanadjective
-
faithful to one's sovereign, government, or state.
a loyal subject.
- Synonyms:
- patriotic
- Antonyms:
- treacherous, faithless, disloyal, treasonous, traitorous
-
faithful to one's oath, commitments, or obligations.
to be loyal to a vow.
-
faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity.
a loyal friend.
-
characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc..
loyal conduct.
adjective
-
having or showing continuing allegiance
-
faithful to one's country, government, etc
-
of or expressing loyalty
Related Words
See faithful.
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
Etymology
Origin of loyal
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French, Old French loial, lei(a)l, from Latin lēgālis legal
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.
"You are stunning, confident, loyal, honest and my family-orientated princess."
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
All that survived intact of the family’s former treasures were the netsuke, which were smuggled out of the family’s mansion by a loyal maid and returned to the family after the war.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
"I, Balendra Shah, in the name of the country and people, pledge that I will be loyal to the constitution," Shah said, dressed all in black, including his trademark dark sunglasses.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
Seo’s Janet is as feisty as she is loyal, making it easy to root for her and her quickly budding romance with McKnight’s worthy Alex.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
“You have no idea the indignities I have suffered,” I told my loyal servant.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
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.
