Standard Lemma guide

disobedience

noun · 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: /dɪs.əˈbiː.dɪəns/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH2 S AH0 B IY1 D IY0 AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: D IH2 S OW0 B IY1 D IY0 AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Refusal to obey.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The teacher complained of the child's disobedience.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the failure to obey

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: noncompliance

Antonyms: obedience

Broader terms: insubordination, rebelliousness

Narrower terms: contempt, contumacy

3

noun

Meaning 3

the trait of being unwilling to obey

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: obedience

Broader terms: intractability, intractableness

Narrower terms: naughtiness, mischievousness, badness

History

Etymology

From Middle English disobedience, dysobediaunce, from Old French desobedience. By surface analysis, dis- + obedience. Displaced native Old English unhīersumnes.

Across languages

Translations

61 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mosbindje — refusal to obey
  • Arabic: عِصْيَان (ʕiṣyān) — refusal to obey
  • Armenian: անհնազանդություն (anhnazandutʻyun) — refusal to obey
  • Belarusian: непаслушэ́нства (njepaslušénstva) — refusal to obey
  • Belarusian: непадпара́дкаванне (njepadparádkavannje) — refusal to obey
  • Belarusian: непаслухмя́насць (njepasluxmjánascʹ) — refusal to obey
  • Bulgarian: непослушание (neposlušanie) — refusal to obey
  • Bulgarian: неподчинение (nepodčinenie) — refusal to obey
  • Carpathian Rusyn: нєпослух (njeposlux) — refusal to obey
  • Catalan: desobediència — refusal to obey
  • Cebuano: paglapas — refusal to obey
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不服從 /不服从 (bùfúcóng) — refusal to obey
  • Czech: neposlušnost — refusal to obey
  • Czech: vzdor — refusal to obey
  • Danish: ulydighed — refusal to obey
  • Dutch: ongehoorzaamheid — refusal to obey
  • Esperanto: malobeemo — refusal to obey
  • Faroese: ólýdni — refusal to obey
  • Finnish: tottelemattomuus — refusal to obey
  • French: désobéissance — refusal to obey
  • Georgian: დაუმორჩილებლობა (daumorčilebloba) — refusal to obey
  • Georgian: ურჩობა (určoba) — refusal to obey
  • German: Ungehorsam — refusal to obey
  • Gothic: 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (ufarhauseins) — refusal to obey
  • Greek: ανυπακοή (anypakoḯ) — refusal to obey
  • Ancient Greek: παρακοή (parakoḗ) — refusal to obey
  • Ancient Greek: ἀπείθεια (apeítheia) — refusal to obey
  • Hebrew: אי־ציות (y-tziut) — refusal to obey
  • Hindi: अवमानना (avmānnā) — refusal to obey
  • Hungarian: engedetlenség — refusal to obey
  • Hungarian: engedetlenkedés — refusal to obey
  • Irish: aimhriar — refusal to obey
  • Irish: anumhlaíocht — refusal to obey
  • Irish: doriarthacht — refusal to obey
  • Irish: easumhlaíocht — refusal to obey
  • Irish: míréir — refusal to obey
  • Italian: disobbedienza — refusal to obey
  • Japanese: 不服従 (fufukujū) — refusal to obey
  • Korean: 불복종 (bulbokjong) — refusal to obey
  • Latvian: nepaklausība — refusal to obey
  • Malayalam: അനുസരണക്കേട് (anusaraṇakkēṭŭ) — refusal to obey
  • Norwegian: ulydighet — refusal to obey
  • Old English: unhīersumnes — refusal to obey
  • Pannonian Rusyn: нєпослух (njeposlux) — refusal to obey
  • Polish: nieposłuszeństwo — refusal to obey
  • Portuguese: desobediência — refusal to obey
  • Russian: неповинове́ние (nepovinovénije) — refusal to obey
  • Russian: непослуша́ние (neposlušánije) — refusal to obey
  • Russian: неподчине́ние (nepodčinénije) — refusal to obey
  • Northern Sami: jeagohisvuohta — refusal to obey
  • Scottish Gaelic: eas-ùmhlachd — refusal to obey
  • Upper Sorbian: njeposłušnosć — refusal to obey
  • Spanish: desobediencia — refusal to obey
  • Swedish: olydnad — refusal to obey
  • Old Swedish: ōlyþna — refusal to obey
  • Tagalog: pagsuway — refusal to obey
  • Ukrainian: непоко́ра (nepokóra) — refusal to obey
  • Ukrainian: непокі́рність (nepokírnistʹ) — refusal to obey
  • Ukrainian: неслухня́ність (nesluxnjánistʹ) — refusal to obey
  • Ukrainian: непо́слух (nepóslux) — refusal to obey
  • Urdu: نافَرْمان٘بَرْداری (nāfarmāṉbardārī) — refusal to obey