INSUBORDINATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does insubordinate mean? 

• INSUBORDINATE (adjective)
  The adjective INSUBORDINATE has 2 senses:

1. not submissive to authority

2. disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority

  Familiarity information: INSUBORDINATE used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSUBORDINATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not submissive to authority

Context example:

insubordinate boys

Similar:

contumacious (wilfully obstinate; stubbornly disobedient)

disobedient; unruly (unwilling to submit to authority)

mutinous (disposed to or in a state of mutiny)

rebellious (resisting control or authority)

Also:

defiant; noncompliant (boldly resisting authority or an opposing force)

Antonym:

subordinate (subject or submissive to authority or the control of another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority

Synonyms:

insubordinate; resistant; resistive

Similar:

defiant; noncompliant (boldly resisting authority or an opposing force)

 Context examples 

How the Revolution had swept them out of their ships, and the force been left with insubordinate seamen and no competent leaders.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I remembered with confusion my insubordinate and stealthy conduct, and when I saw where it had brought me—among what companions and surrounded by what dangers—I felt ashamed to look him in the face.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)