Meaning & use
disciplined person
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
Someone who controls their own behavior and keeps working steadily at what they have decided to do.
Grammar: Countable phrase: you can say 'a disciplined person' or 'two disciplined people' (not 'persons' in everyday speech).
Patterns
- a disciplined person
- be a disciplined person
- a highly disciplined person
She gets up at five every morning; she is a very disciplined person.
A disciplined person finishes the task even when it stops being interesting.
He is not the most talented player, but he is a disciplined person who trains every day.
nouncountable
Someone who obeys rules and follows orders strictly, especially at work or in an organization.
Grammar: Often used with adverbs like 'highly', 'strictly' or 'well' before the adjective.
Patterns
- a highly disciplined person
- a well-disciplined person
The army looks for disciplined people who can follow orders under pressure.
She is a disciplined person who never misses a deadline.
Common combinations
- a highly disciplined person
- Being a highly disciplined person, he never skipped a training session.
- a well-disciplined person
- The team needs well-disciplined people who arrive on time.
- a disciplined person with
- She is a disciplined person with clear daily habits.
- become a disciplined person
- He became a disciplined person after joining the navy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- self-disciplined
- Means almost the same, but it stresses control coming from inside you rather than from rules or a boss.
- organized
- Focuses on keeping things tidy and planned; a disciplined person may be organized, but the words are not the same.
- diligent
- Describes hard, careful work; it says nothing about self-control or routine, which 'disciplined' does.
Opposites
Word family
- discipline noun
- Training that makes people obey rules, or controlled behavior.
- discipline verb
- To train or punish someone so that they behave correctly.
- self-discipline noun
- The ability to make yourself work or behave well without anyone forcing you.
- disciplined adjective
- Showing or resulting from careful self-control and regular habits.
Commonly confused: disciplined person or disciplinary? disciplined person or disciple?
disciplined person vs disciplinary
Sounds similar but means 'relating to punishment or rules' (a disciplinary hearing); it does not describe a person's character.
disciplined person vs disciple
A disciple is a follower of a teacher or religion, not someone with self-control.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'disciplined person' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A disciplined person' is an adjective plus noun, so it can be the subject or object of a sentence, as in option 0. The other options break the phrase or use the wrong preposition and word order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disciplined person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.