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
Eric Todisco, PEOPLE, 13 Dec. 2025
Sean Audy with the Will County sheriff’s office said the defendant also caused trouble at the Will County jail, including threatening a deputy, being insubordinate and uncooperative.
—Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Respondents said those issues include violent, destructive or insubordinate behavior by the students.
—Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, 2 July 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
Meanwhile, Monica is having work troubles at her new job as head chef at Allesandro's restaurant involving an insubordinate kitchen staff, and Phoebe sets out to write a Christmas song for her friends but struggles with rhymes.
—Eric Todisco, PEOPLE, 13 Dec. 2025
Sean Audy with the Will County sheriff’s office said the defendant also caused trouble at the Will County jail, including threatening a deputy, being insubordinate and uncooperative.
—Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Respondents said those issues include violent, destructive or insubordinate behavior by the students.
—Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, 2 July 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
-
For Jean, Judge’s visit to Annecy is a momentous occasion that reflects the Festival’s determination to highlight the dynamism, social relevance and rebellious audacity of American adult animation series.—
Kevin Giraud,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
-
Like most of us, FIG shed its more rebellious tendencies over time.—
Robert F. Moss,
Southern Living,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Winnie Cheung, United States, 2025 A motorcycle rebel spirals deeper into her erotic hallucinations in order to escape the grip of a sultry serpent woman.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
-
My mother was a freewheeling rebel who was far from being a caretaker.—
Via Scribner,
Literary Hub,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In northern Israel daily rockets are keeping people on edge but also defiant.—
Greg Dixon,
NPR,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Iran’s leaders have remained defiant after days of heavy strikes targeting the country’s leadership, military, ballistic missiles and disputed nuclear program.—
Samy Magdy,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That kind of chaos could easily spill over Iran’s borders, and not just by land; the Persian Gulf is narrow, and would not pose much of an obstacle to terrorists or insurgents who cross it in speedboats.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Paxton will counter that Texas runoffs often reward insurgents.—
Gromer Jeffers Jr,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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And two longer-serving incumbents are also fighting off primary challengers.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Mar. 2026
-
In District 1, which stretches from Glassell Park and Highland Park to Chinatown and Pico Union, four challengers are looking to unseat City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.—
Melissa Gomez,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Tanimoto, as the last living Block 42 resister, carries a singular piece of that history — a controversy and act of resistance within the walls of confinement that illustrated the dilemma faced by people imprisoned by their own country without accusation of a crime.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
19 Feb. 2026
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Sherrill focused many of her critiques on ICE and Trump’s immigration policies, positioning the state as a major resister of Trump’s deportation plans.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Jan. 2026
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
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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
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 19 Mar. 2026.
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