Standard Lemma guide

disloyal

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: [dɪsˈlɔɪ(j)əɫ]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S L OY1 AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not loyal, without loyalty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1536, Anne Boleyn, letter addressed to Henry VIII from the Tower of London, cited in Edward Herbert, The Life and Raigne of King Henry VIII, London: Thomas Whitaker, 1649, p. 383, Good your Grace, let not any light fancy, or bad Counsel of mine enemies withdraw your Princely favour from me; neither let that stain, that unworthy stain of a disloyall heart towards your good Grace, ever cast so foul a blot on your most dutifull Wife, and the Infant Princesse your daughter [...]

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: faithless, perfidious, treacherous, unfaithful, unloyal, recreant, booky, dastardly, disleal, disloyal, double-crossing, double-dealing, double-faced, double-hearted, doublehearted, false, falseheart, false-hearted, guiled, guileful, hollow-hearted, illoyal, infidelitous, insidious, Judaslike, Judasly, nonfaithful, proditorious, proditory, Punic, ratlike, renegade, reptilian, reptitious, swike, traitorish, traitorlike, traitorly, traitorous, traitorsome, treachersome, trothless, unleal, unsteadfast, untrue, viperish, viperous

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

deserting your allegiance or duty to leader or cause or principle

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • disloyal aides revealed his indiscretions to the papers

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: loyal

3

adjective

Meaning 3

showing lack of love for your country

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unpatriotic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman desleal, desloial, equivalent to dis- + loyal.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: dislojaal — without loyalty
  • Asturian: deslleal — without loyalty
  • Breton: disleal — without loyalty
  • Catalan: deslleial — without loyalty
  • Danish: illoyal — without loyalty
  • Dutch: ontrouw — without loyalty
  • Finnish: epälojaali — without loyalty
  • Finnish: uskoton — without loyalty
  • French: déloyal — without loyalty
  • West-Frisian: glûpsk — without loyalty
  • Galician: desleal — without loyalty
  • Georgian: მოღალატე (moɣalaṭe) — without loyalty
  • Georgian: ორგული (orguli) — without loyalty
  • Georgian: არალოიალური (araloialuri) — without loyalty
  • German: illoyal — without loyalty
  • German: treulos — without loyalty
  • Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (untriggws) — without loyalty
  • Ido: desloyala — without loyalty
  • Irish: aindílis — without loyalty
  • Irish: éadairiseach — without loyalty
  • Irish: mídhílis — without loyalty
  • Irish: mídhlisteanach — without loyalty
  • Irish: neamhdhlisteanach — without loyalty
  • Irish: neamhthairiseach — without loyalty
  • Italian: sleale — without loyalty
  • Kazakh: опасыз (opasyz) — without loyalty
  • Latin: infidēlis — without loyalty
  • Norman: dêlouoyal — without loyalty
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utro — without loyalty
  • Norwegian Bokmål: illojal — without loyalty
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: illojal — without loyalty
  • Occitan: desleial — without loyalty
  • Plautdietsch: ontru — without loyalty
  • Polish: nielojalny — without loyalty
  • Portuguese: desleal — without loyalty
  • Russian: нелоя́льный (nelojálʹnyj) — without loyalty
  • Spanish: desleal — without loyalty
  • Swedish: illojal — without loyalty
  • Ottoman Turkish: صداقتسز (sadakatsiz) — without loyalty