Word family noun obedience ≠ disobedience adjective obedient ≠ disobedient verb obey ≠ disobey adverb obediently ≠ disobediently
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdisobeydis‧o‧bey /ˌdɪsəˈbeɪ, ˌdɪsəʊ- $ ˌdɪsə-, ˌdɪsoʊ-/ ●●○ verb [intransitive, transitive] DISOBEYto refuse to do what someone with authority tells you to do, or refuse to obey a rule or law OPP obey You disobeyed my orders.THESAURUSdisobey to not obey a person, order, rule, or lawIn the army, it is a crime to disobey a superior officer.He had disobeyed the school rules.break a law/rule to not obey a law or ruleAnyone who breaks the law must expect to be punished.defy formal to deliberately refuse to obey a rule or law, or what someone in authority tells you to doThe police arrested the youth for defying a court order.flout /flaʊt/ formal to deliberately disobey a rule or law in a very public wayTimber companies are continuing to flout environmental laws.violate formal to disobey a law, or do something that is against an agreement or principleBoth countries have accused each other of violating the treaty.Technically he had violated the law. contravene formal to be against a law, rule, or agreement, or to do something that is against a law, rule, or agreementThe British government’s actions contravened the European Convention on Human Rights. → See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
disobey• It was unfair of the teacher to make us stay after school, but no one dared disobey.• No matter what your instructions are, it is difficult to disobey a direct order from the President of the United States.• Conversely, you may be entitled to disobey an instruction which management ostensibly has the power to give.• Christians, he insisted, had to disobey any who went against the law of reason or the codes of religion.• My father was very strict and old-fashioned, but I never disobeyed him.• I should have liked simply to disobey orders and stay in the trench.• Troops openly disobeyed orders, refusing to use force against their own people.• Pilots who disobey orders to land can face up to five years in prison.• He tells them how he was punished for disobeying orders.• A pardon need not imply that a soldier did not desert, or show cowardice, or disobey orders.• Black had disobeyed the judge's ruling, and continued to harass his ex-wife.• Protestors disobeyed the law and blocked the city's main roads.• It made her glad she was disobeying them; gladder still that she and Rob were lovers. 