undisciplined
Britishadjective
Explanation
Undisciplined means uncontrolled or disorderly. An undisciplined bunch of dogs is nearly impossible to walk down the sidewalk together: they all want to run in different directions, chase squirrels, and bark wildly. When you take the word disciplined, "showing control or order," and add un-, or "not," to it, you get undisciplined. This is a great way to describe an out-of-control classroom, an athlete whose explosive anger gets her kicked off the field, or someone who can't manage his own money well, spending an entire paycheck all in one place.
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.
“His mind was, from what I could see, largely undisciplined, which is how he could make these connections so unexpectedly and usefully, but not always usefully,” Crocker said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
Scattered and undisciplined, it’s never clear which way he will go.
From Salon • Sep. 28, 2025
“This is a beautiful, very dreamlike, nonlinear exercise in spirituality and introspection. ‘Conclave’ felt disciplined — not that this film is undisciplined but it exists on a totally different plane.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 28, 2025
While much of this work may look wild or undisciplined — it certainly did to adherents of the International Style — it in fact required extraordinary craft and skill.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025
In the undisciplined groups the babies crawled into gutters and the older girls each acted as if she were alone, a daughter among slaves.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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.
