as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
the disobedient child refused to eat his vegetables
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Recent Examples of disobedient
The news organizations also found that Garrison employees frequently removed students from their classrooms and sent them to crisis rooms when the students were upset, disobedient or aggressive.
—
Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 20 May 2025
Fed Up in Illinois Dear Fed Up: Is Edie mean, arrogant, disobedient and rude in the presence of her parents, or has she been invited to spend time with your girls separately?
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2025
When Ballard was asked at the end of the season why Richardson needed to be demoted for the stakes of his job to finally sink in, the GM compared his QB’s behavior to that of a disobedient child.
—James Boyd, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
Sadly, they’re sometimes used because a guardian thinks the dog is being willfully disobedient, rather than examining the underlying issue that’s creating the problem behavior (for example, lack of training or not meeting the dog’s exercise or emotional needs).
—Dawn Kovell, The Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disobedient
Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 20 May 2025
Fed Up in Illinois Dear Fed Up: Is Edie mean, arrogant, disobedient and rude in the presence of her parents, or has she been invited to spend time with your girls separately?
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2025
When Ballard was asked at the end of the season why Richardson needed to be demoted for the stakes of his job to finally sink in, the GM compared his QB’s behavior to that of a disobedient child.
—James Boyd, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
Sadly, they’re sometimes used because a guardian thinks the dog is being willfully disobedient, rather than examining the underlying issue that’s creating the problem behavior (for example, lack of training or not meeting the dog’s exercise or emotional needs).
—Dawn Kovell, The Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disobedient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disobedient
Adjective
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There's just something so irresistible about the lace-up flat with its air of rebellious discipline.—
Alex Sales,
Glamour,
12 Oct. 2025
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Singer Kelis has always been rebellious and non-conforming.—
Elizabeth Ayoola,
Essence,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Since Gaddafi was removed from power and killed by rebel forces in 2011, Libya has found itself in turmoil — and its domestic football has mirrored its politics.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
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Less than a year after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali became a Nobel laureate in 2019, a brutal conflict erupted in Tigray, a northern regional state in Ethiopia, between Ethiopian federal military forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, a rebel group.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Kurt Caz, a white South African social-media star with millions of followers across platforms, first gained popularity through filming his defiant tours of dangerous neighborhoods in countries such as Venezuela and Kenya.—
T. M. Brown,
New Yorker,
15 Oct. 2025
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In a defiant address to the nation on Monday night, Rajoelina said that he had been forced to move to a safe place because of threats to his life.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disobedient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disobedient. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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