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 disobedient or defiant behavior

took disciplinary action

2

: of or relating to a particular field of study

academic disciplinary specialization

disciplinarily

ˌdi-sə-plə-ˈner-ə-lē 

adverb

disciplinarity

ˌdi-sə-plə-ˈner-ə-tē 

noun

Synonyms of disciplinary

• 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

Eastland, a registered nurse since 2008 and Camp Mystic's chief health officer for 16 years, neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed to disciplinary action. —S.e. Jenkins, CBS News, 28 May 2026

Branson Skinner, co-founder of The Or Foundation, first met Dimitri Deheyn, a marine biologist whose cross-disciplinary work focuses on biomimicry, in 2021 through The Biomimicry Institute. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 28 May 2026

Investigators closed 17 more without any disciplinary actions. —ABC News, 28 May 2026

Blumenthal sent a separate letter to Mullin requesting the disciplinary records of agents who used chemical munitions in the presence of children. —Lisa Song, ProPublica, 27 May 2026

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