How to Use insubordinate in a Sentence

insubordinate

adjective
  • His behavior was unprofessional and insubordinate.
  • At the start of its fourth season, SNL was no longer the insubordinate new kid on the block.
    — David Browne, Rolling Stone, 17 Feb. 2025
  • Be sure to negotiate this with your boss so that you aren’t viewed as insubordinate or uncaring.
    — Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2024
  • The lever is pulled and the handmaids do not hang, because this was a mock execution; a lesson for insubordinate handmaids.
    — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, 25 Apr. 2018
  • What is supposed to be a brief stay is extended when Pepper is deemed insubordinate by the cold and menacing staff.
    — Eric Andersson, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
  • Ally went from respectful and sweet to insubordinate and cruel.
    — Mallory Ortberg, Slate Magazine, 28 Sep. 2017
  • In a coastal town on the Gulf of Mexico lives the insubordinate Daniel, the owner of a small motel.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 17 Feb. 2026
  • The rulers of the Joseon dynasty, for instance, used to send insubordinate aristocrats there to stop them from meddling in politics.
    — The Economist, 18 Jan. 2020
  • The police department says the most recent investigation showed Cpt. Danita Pettis was dishonest, entered false payroll information, and was insubordinate.
    — Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 Dec. 2024
  • All things that are unimpeachably insubordinate.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 24 June 2026
  • Little, reading the texts aloud, sought to paint the group as insubordinate employees who reveled in the tumultuous aftermath of their report.
    — Philip Jankowski, Dallas News, 8 Sep. 2023
  • Musk’s team was asked to comb through messages in Twitter’s internal chat platform and make a list of employees who were insubordinate, people briefed on the plan said.
    — Ryan Mac, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Nov. 2022
  • No one’s arc is insubordinate; no one’s emotional logic is insignificant.
    — Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Weiss' defenders have blasted the show's staff as insubordinate and misdirected.
    — Arkansas Online, 26 Dec. 2025
  • The city also says Isaacs was insubordinate, even rude to supervisors, city records of Isaacs' termination show.
    — Kate Murphy, Cincinnati.com, 28 Feb. 2018
  • All presidents should have the ability to terminate employees who are insubordinate.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Joey attempts to help Monica gain respect among the insubordinate kitchen staff at her new job, and things don't go well for Rachel when Chandler sets her up on a bad date with a colleague.
    — Eric Todisco, People.com, 15 Dec. 2024
  • People close to Weiss have said comments like Pelley’s show a stubborn, insubordinate streak that wouldn’t be tolerated in any work environment.
    — Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 7 June 2026
  • Some said overzealous and occasionally insubordinate — insistent on his vision of correct police work.
    — Adam Carlson, PEOPLE.com, 1 Jan. 2020
  • While Reynoso was getting in trouble, being insubordinate and dealing with suspensions, Rodriguez has been entirely more benign.
    — Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 9 May 2026
  • New research shows Hinton’s premonitions about the insubordinate streak of AI may already be a reality.
    — Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2026
  • The publication conducted three separate studies and consistently found that curious employees were seen by their leaders as insubordinate and, in turn, less likable.
    — Byorianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2023
  • Respondents said those issues include violent, destructive or insubordinate behavior by the students.
    — Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
  • All of us political prisoners were interrogated on our views about what was happening in the Soviet Union, and the guards had orders to shoot any prisoner who was insubordinate.
    — Luo Siling, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2016
  • These are not the insubordinate and unprofessional 2011 Red Sox who buried themselves in a heap of beer cans and chicken bones in an epic September collapse.
    — Chad Finn, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2019
  • According to the report, quote, one source telling ABC that the draft report explicitly uses the words insubordinate to describe Comey's behavior.
    — Fox News, 6 June 2018
  • The article, which exposed behavior on the part of McChrystal and his staff that ranged from cavalier to insubordinate, quickly cost McChrystal his post.
    — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 June 2017
  • The report said Comey, who announced in the summer of 2016 that Clinton would not be charged with any crime in the e-mail probe, was insubordinate and departed from normal protocol numerous times.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 14 June 2018
  • If a Texas sheriff is insubordinate or doesn't comply with SB 8, the attorney general has the authority to file a court order and face potential legal penalties.
    — Marley Malenfant, Austin American Statesman, 30 Dec. 2025
  • The investigation focused on what the agency deemed to be unprofessional, insubordinate and profane emails and chat messages to her colleagues, including several in Oregon City.
    — Molly Young, OregonLive.com, 5 May 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'insubordinate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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