disciplinary

adjective

dis·​ci·​plin·​ary ˈdi-sə-plə-ˌner-ē 

 especially British  ˌdi-sə-ˈpli-nə-rē

1

a

: of or relating to discipline

disciplinary problems

b

: designed to correct or punish breaches of discipline

took disciplinary action

2

: of or relating to a particular field of study

disciplinary specialization

disciplinarily

ˌdi-sə-plə-ˈner-ə-lē 

adverb

disciplinarity

ˌdi-sə-plə-ˈner-ə-tē 

noun

Synonyms

• punitive
• correctional

Examples of disciplinary in a Sentence

The committee is considering disciplinary measures against him.

called for disciplinary actions in response to the outrageous behavior

Recent Examples on the Web

Sherrill's campaign later contested that the disciplinary file had been sealed and not subject to public disclosure. —Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025

The university and Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen later declined to pursue disciplinary or criminal charges against the student journalist. —Ryan MacAsero, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025

Regarding the lack of disciplinary records documenting policy violations, Payne placed blame on prison staff for failure to write Holt up for disciplinary violations. —Arkansas Online, 22 Oct. 2025

Abaraonye received hate and racial abuse after the comments against Kirk came out, which the Oxford Union condemned, but also moved forward with disciplinary proceedings, the BBC reported. —Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin disciplīnārius, from Latin disciplīna "teaching, discipline entry 1" + -ārius -ary entry 2

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for disciplinary

• accretionary
• apothecary
• bicentenary
• certiorari
• concessionary
• concretionary
• confectionary
• confectionery
• constabulary
• contemporary
• deflationary
• depositary

Kids Definition

disciplinary

adjective

dis·​ci·​plin·​ary ˈdis-ə-plə-ˌner-ē 

: of or relating to discipline : corrective

take disciplinary action