as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
the junior officer was court-martialed for being insubordinate
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as in rebel
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Recent Examples of insubordinate
David Browne, Rolling Stone, 17 Feb. 2025
Insomnia is a mark of the insubordinate imagination.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
Joey attempts to help Monica gain respect among the insubordinate kitchen staff at her new job, and things don't go well for Rachel when Chandler sets her up on a bad date with a colleague.
—Eric Todisco, People.com, 15 Dec. 2024
The police department says the most recent investigation showed Cpt. Danita Pettis was dishonest, entered false payroll information, and was insubordinate.
—Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for insubordinate
Noun
At the start of its fourth season, SNL was no longer the insubordinate new kid on the block.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 17 Feb. 2025
Insomnia is a mark of the insubordinate imagination.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
Joey attempts to help Monica gain respect among the insubordinate kitchen staff at her new job, and things don't go well for Rachel when Chandler sets her up on a bad date with a colleague.
—Eric Todisco, People.com, 15 Dec. 2024
The police department says the most recent investigation showed Cpt. Danita Pettis was dishonest, entered false payroll information, and was insubordinate.
—Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for insubordinate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insubordinate
Adjective
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The Opry had been wary of Cash's rebellious ways for some time, but this was the final straw.—
Audrey Gibbs,
The Tennessean,
28 Aug. 2025
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Cole is the rebellious cool older brother with a secret heart of gold, while Alex is the reliable nerdy and sweet one who wants to come out from Cole's shadow.—
Dina Kaur,
AZCentral.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Adapted from Chinese folklore, the film follows a boy named Ne Zha (Crystal Lee) who is born with demon-like powers and rebels against his hawk-eyed, human parents Lady Yin and Li Jing (Vincent Rodriguez III).—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
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Since January, thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the fighting between M23 rebels and the Congolese army.—
Jean Kaseya,
Time,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But New Delhi has been defiant, saying that Russian oil is necessary for the energy security of its 1.4 billion-strong population.—
Anna Cooban,
CNN Money,
15 Aug. 2025
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The character’s defiant self-possession would unnerve even a more contemporary patriarchy, and challenge family dynamics in any era.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
14 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But as the threat of insurgents has receded abroad, the Trump administration has brought these tactics home.—
Time,
Time,
8 Aug. 2025
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On the one hand, there is the prospect of insurgents who can field swarms of armed drones.—
Dexter Filkins,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
Noun
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The answer is that France at this time was attempting to heal its wartime wounds, papering over the cracks in the social fabric that had opened up during the German Occupation and positioning itself as a nation of resisters, in which collaborators had been few and aberrant.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 July 2025
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Among the resisters is a small but growing group of veterans, like Tamir, who openly express dissent and outrage.—
Ruth Margalit,
New Yorker,
14 May 2025
Noun
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Few among the bureaucratic, business, and even military elites denounced the mutineers, exposing limited support for Putin.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
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The games remain incomplete, and may in fact remain that way depending on what the Front Man decides to do with Gi-hun and all of the other mutineers.—
Josh Wigler,
The Hollywood Reporter,
2 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Deporting supposed gang members and Hamas supporters without due process may violate any number of statutes, but forcing oppositionists to defend these people’s rights allows the administration to paint them as defending their ideas.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
17 Apr. 2025
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Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a Sunni Islamist umbrella group of oppositionist forces with ideological and organizational roots in al-Qaeda.—
Joseph Epstein,
Newsweek,
10 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Insubordinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insubordinate. Accessed 31 Aug. 2025.
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