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
Arkansas Online, 26 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for insubordinate
Adjective
Weiss' defenders have blasted the show's staff as insubordinate and misdirected.
—Arkansas Online, 26 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for insubordinate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insubordinate
Adjective
-
The film explores the iconic partnership between Fonteyn, a 42-year-old prima ballerina and Britain’s most famous dancer, and Rudolf Nureyev, the 23-year-old rebellious Soviet defector who became her partner on stage (and, it was rumored, off it as well).—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Apr. 2026
-
When the skyscraper where Rayburn and his family lives is destroyed in an explosion, Creasy attempts to regain his military prowess in his determination to protect Rayburn’s rebellious teen daughter Poe (Billie Boullet), who has been targeted by the terrorists.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Its leaders have been working to rebuild relations with Arab and Western countries that had shunned Syria under former President Bashar Assad, who was ousted in December 2024 by rebels, who then installed a new government.—
Abby Sewell,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
-
As the years tick by, the lips become a bit of a rebel.—
Micaela English,
Glamour,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In her first public appearance since leaving Congress, Cherfilus-McCormick struck a defiant tone, framing her situation as a setback rather than an ending.—
WPEC Staff,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Apr. 2026
-
While Metcalf’s Linda adopts a facade of stoicism to shield her family from the grief erupting in her, Abbott’s Biff is forced to reveal the broken man behind the defiant veneer.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Kidal's capture in a similar militant-insurgent alliance over a decade ago was at the root of the security crisis that has shaken Mali.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Mali has faced years of escalating insurgent violence; the ruling military junta, which pledged to restore stability in a 2020 coup, turned to Russia for assistance in its counterinsurgency campaign.—
Lauren Morganbesser,
semafor.com,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
His two challengers, Francisco Tamayo and Yair Gersten, come from more Democratic backgrounds, setting up a race that could reshape the ideological balance at City Hall.—
Walker Armstrong,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
-
There is something comforting, to me, about this churn of champions and challengers.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Clemson resister Dabo Swinney has driven his program into the ground.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
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In November 1971, Berkeley, California, became the first sanctuary city in the country when 12 local churches inspired the City Council to pass a resolution offering sanctuary to draft resisters.—
Menika Dirkson,
The Conversation,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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 2 May. 2026.
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