Meaning & use

Disciplinary

adjective·Everyday

Last updated

Relating to the enforcement of rules or punishment for breaking them, or relating to a specific field of academic study.

See it in a sentence

The employee faced disciplinary action after repeated lateness.

The conference brought together scholars from several disciplinary backgrounds.

A note on using this word

"Disciplinary" has two distinct uses — one tied to punishment and rule enforcement, the other to academic "disciplines" like history or biology — so context matters.

Words with a similar meaning

punitivecorrective

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Another way to use it

2. adjective

Relating to a particular branch or field of academic study.

The research project required a disciplinary team spanning biology and computer science.

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