Meaning & use
insubordination
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
Open refusal to follow the instructions or accept the authority of a person above you in rank.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: he was fired for insubordination.
Patterns
- fired for insubordination
- accused of insubordination
- charged with insubordination
The nurse was suspended for insubordination after she refused a direct order.
Soldiers who showed insubordination faced severe punishment.
His manager described the outburst as clear insubordination.
nouncountableformal
A particular act of defying a superior.
Grammar: Countable in this sense: several acts of insubordination.
Patterns
- an act of insubordination
- an insubordination
The captain recorded each insubordination in his log.
Small insubordinations, such as ignoring meeting times, added up over the year.
Word forms
| plural | insubordinations |
|---|
Common combinations
- gross insubordination
- The employee was dismissed for gross insubordination.
- charged with insubordination
- Two sailors were charged with insubordination.
- an act of insubordination
- Refusing to wear the uniform was seen as an act of insubordination.
- open insubordination
- His open insubordination shocked the whole department.
- dismissed for insubordination
- She was dismissed for insubordination after a heated argument.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disobedience
- Disobedience is the general word for not following any rule or order, while insubordination applies only to defying someone senior in a hierarchy.
- defiance
- Defiance stresses bold, open resistance and can apply to anyone, whereas insubordination is tied to work or military rank.
- mutiny
- Mutiny is far stronger, meaning a group rebellion against officers, usually on a ship or in an army.
- rebellion
- Rebellion suggests organized resistance against a whole system, while insubordination is a more personal act against a superior.
Opposites
Word family
- insubordinate adjective
- refusing to obey authority
- subordinate noun
- a person of lower rank
- subordinate verb
- to treat as less important
- subordination noun
- the state of being lower in rank
Commonly confused: insubordination or insubstantial?
insubordination vs insubstantial
Insubstantial means lacking weight or solidity, and it is unrelated to defying orders despite the similar start.
Practice
The manager warned that further ____ would lead to dismissal, since the employee had twice refused direct instructions.
Choose one answer.
Insubordination is refusing to follow a superior's orders. Indifference, inattention and insecurity describe attitudes or feelings and not an act of refusal.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “insubordination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.