disservice

noun

dis·​ser·​vice (ˌ)di(s)-ˈsər-vəs How to pronounce disservice (audio)
Synonyms of disservicenext
: ill service : harm
also : an unhelpful, unkind, or harmful act
misinformation that does a disservice to readers

Synonyms of disservice

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of disservice in a Sentence

Her comments were a disservice to those volunteers. you do a great disservice to the professionals at the day-care center when you refer to them as “babysitters”
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
And that’s doing a disservice to everybody. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026 Without doing anyone a disservice, however, all four of these men are, or were, world class passers of the ball with impressive vision. — Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026 To mention any others from this season would do that PSG-Bayern first leg a disservice. — Jack Lang, New York Times, 28 May 2026 Heastie is doing a disservice to New Yorkers and fostering cynicism about what goes on in Albany. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 11 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for disservice

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of disservice was in 1599

Rhymes for disservice

See All Rhymes for disservice

Browse Nearby Words

disserve
disservice
disserviceable
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Disservice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disservice. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

disservice

noun
dis·​ser·​vice (ˈ)dis-ˈ(s)ər-vəs How to pronounce disservice (audio)
: an unhelpful, unkind, or harmful act
behavior that did a disservice to the sport

More from Merriam-Webster on disservice

Nglish: Translation of disservice for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All