disobedience

Everyday

1. Disobedience is refusing or failing to do what a person in charge, a rule or a law tells you. tree →
2. (formal) Civil disobedience means breaking a law peacefully on purpose to protest that it is unfair. tree →

In the lessons

In ethics and religious education, the story of Adam and Eve is about disobedience; in school, disobedience breaks class rules. In history lessons, Rosa Parks and Gandhi used civil disobedience. Phrases: «act of disobedience», «civil disobedience», «punished for disobedience».

Examples

• The dog was told off for its disobedience. tree →
• Disobedience to the rules can lead to a detention. tree →
• Adam and Eve's disobedience is told in the book of Genesis. tree →
• Rosa Parks' act of civil disobedience helped change unfair laws. tree →
• The soldier was punished for disobedience. tree →
• The story shows how disobedience got the boy into trouble. tree →
• Peaceful disobedience can be brave when a law is unfair. tree →
• Poor Urashima! because of his disobedience he could never return to the Sea King’s realm or the lovely Princess beyond the sea. tree →

Note

Uncountable. Opposite: obedience. Related: disobey (verb), disobedient (adjective). «Dis-» means not.