insubordinate
insubordinate adjective: rebellious or defiant to authority; contumacious.
Adjective
insubordinate (comparative more insubordinate, superlative most insubordinate)
- Rebellious or defiant to authority; contumacious.
- I remembered with confusion my insubordinate and stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought me […] I felt ashamed to look him in the face.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC
Verb
insubordinate (third-person singular simple present insubordinates, present participle insubordinating, simple past and past participle insubordinated)
- To rebel or defy authority.
- I think it's moral to insubordinate against a controlling boss.
- Antonyms:
- subordinate, subjugate, obey
Noun
insubordinate (plural insubordinates)
- A person who defies authority.
insubordinate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
insubordinate in Tamil
- கீழ்ப்படியாத, அடங்காத, கீழ்ப்படியாதவர், அடங்காதவர்
insubordinate in Urdu
- بےادب, گستاخ, نافرمان, سرکش
insubordinate in Bengali
- অবাধ্য, অবাধ্যতা প্রদর্শনকারী, আদেশ অমান্যকারী
insubordinate in Malayalam
- അനുസരണംകെട്ട, അടങ്ങിനില്ക്കാത്ത, ആജ്ഞാലംഘിയായ, ധിക്കാരിയായ
More languagesFewer languages
- insubordinate in Kannada
- ಸೆಲವು ಮೀರುವ, ಬಾಗದ, ತಿರುಗಿ ಬೀಳುವ, ಅವಿಧೇಯ
Antonyms of insubordinate
Forms of insubordinate
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more insubordinate |
| superlative | most insubordinate |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | insubordinates |
| present participle | insubordinating |
| past participle | insubordinated |
| past | insubordinated |
| Noun | |
| plural | insubordinates |
Origin of insubordinate
From in- + subordinate, on model of French insubordonné.
Words formed from insubordinate
Questions about insubordinate
- What does insubordinate mean?
- Insubordinate means rebellious or defiant to authority; contumacious.
- What is insubordinate in Tamil?
- Insubordinate in Tamil is கீழ்ப்படியாத, அடங்காத, கீழ்ப்படியாதவர். See Insubordinate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is insubordinate?
- Insubordinate can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
Words near insubordinate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: insubordinate (page history and authors); insubordinate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); insubordinate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Insubordinate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); insubordinate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); insubordinate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “insubordinate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/insubordinate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.