as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
the junior officer was court-martialed for being insubordinate
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Recent Examples of insubordinate
Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
The slogan put the audience in the shoes of a casually bigoted, insubordinate alcoholic who bends the NYPD’s rules in pursuit of drug runners.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2025
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
Instead, over-centralization has produced the opposite effect, fragmenting the bureaucracy, encouraging bureaucrats to pursue their own interests, and enabling regional elites to become increasingly insubordinate—with Ramzan Kadyrov, Putin’s strongman in Chechnya, being the prime example.
—Alexander J. Motyl, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2016
See All Example Sentences for insubordinate
Adjective
Respondents said those issues include violent, destructive or insubordinate behavior by the students.
—Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
The slogan put the audience in the shoes of a casually bigoted, insubordinate alcoholic who bends the NYPD’s rules in pursuit of drug runners.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2025
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
Instead, over-centralization has produced the opposite effect, fragmenting the bureaucracy, encouraging bureaucrats to pursue their own interests, and enabling regional elites to become increasingly insubordinate—with Ramzan Kadyrov, Putin’s strongman in Chechnya, being the prime example.
—Alexander J. Motyl, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2016
See All Example Sentences for insubordinate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insubordinate
Adjective
-
This vibe continues to be brought to you courtesy of your co-ruling planet, rebellious Uranus, moving into your fifth house of self-expression on April 25, empowering you to lean fully into your penchant for unconventionality and incorporating the element of surprise in your personal style.—
Maressa Brown,
InStyle,
9 Jan. 2026
-
But very soon, that could be rebellious Venezuelan locals seeking to protect their path to democratic sovereignty and resist foreign interference.—
Anthony Dominguez,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Last December, armed rebels previously aligned with terror groups finally ousted Assad from power after a 14 year civil war.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
-
There was a buffer zone where French soldiers were and then the north was held by rebel groups.—
Jay Harris,
New York Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Abbas Maroufi’s The Body of Farhad (1998) takes a more defiant approach.—
Amir Ahmadi Arian,
The Dial,
15 Jan. 2026
-
The Seton Hall crowd was loud and its press was defiant, but this time the Huskies escaped.—
Joe Arruda,
Hartford Courant,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
While many are now driven primarily by economic interests, a subset retains insurgent, ant-imperialist commitments.—
Rebecca Hanson,
The Conversation,
6 Jan. 2026
-
That could mean tightening sanctions on remaining power brokers, expanding strikes against security installations and militias, covertly supporting insurgent factions, and using Maduro’s prospective trial as a global stage on which to delegitimize Chavismo once and for all.—
Robert Muggah,
Fortune,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But 2026 isn’t 2022, with years of GOP control giving challengers clearer lines of attack.—
Karen Brooks Harper,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Quigley has filed for re-election for his current seat in Congress and faces four challengers in the Democratic primary election in March.—
Charlie De Mar,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There’s also no strategic plan or national campaign in place that assures nonviolent resisters that their involvement is part of a grand strategy.—
Michael Shank,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Newsom got another fix of national media attention to bolster his image as resister-in-chief to the commander-in-chief, in apparent preparation for a 2028 presidential campaign.—
Dan Walters,
Oc Register,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Language purists like to remind anyone who will listen that decimation actually means the slaughter of one in ten people, and was the military punishment wielded by the Roman army against deserters and mutineers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Few among the bureaucratic, business, and even military elites denounced the mutineers, exposing limited support for Putin.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
The uniform of the conformist — sports shirt, cardigan, tennis shoes — is as easily recognized as that of the recusant — dirty white T, sideburns, two days’ growth of beard.—
Chris Jones,
chicagotribune.com,
15 July 2019
Cite this Entry
“Insubordinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insubordinate. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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