I. “+ adjective
Etymology: in- (I) + subordinate
: not subordinate: as
a. : unwilling to submit to authority : disobedient , mutinous
insubordinate boys
b. : not holding a lower or inferior position
the bankers of Antwerp placed no limit on their enterprise: economic activity was not subordinate; it had become, from the medieval point of view, insubordinate — Stringfellow Barr
Synonyms:
rebellious , mutinous , seditious , factious , contumacious : insubordinate applies to disobedience of orders, infraction of rules, or a generally disaffected attitude toward authority, often in military or other organization similarly constituted
insubordinate deckhands confined to the brig
insubordinate native troops feeling that they were being discriminated against
rebellious may suggest forceful resistance to or insurgence against authority in addition to insubordination and temperamental opposition
rebellious mountaineers proposing to set up their own independent republic
temperamentally rebellious, instinctively disliking externally imposed authority — Francis Biddle
mutinous suggests either opposing authority by destroying discipline and order or the forceful overthrow of authority
for more than a year Cortes stayed in the new land, a desolate sandy waste, while the mutinous soldiers cursed him — American Guide Series: California
the guards might be overpowered, the palace forced, the king a prisoner in the hands of his mutinous subjects — T.B.Macaulay
seditious suggests treasonable activities, especially those designed to weaken or overthrow a government or foster separatist tendencies
seditious factionalism went on a rampage and began to wreck our foreign policy — Max Ascoli
revolutions that were not made in Boston, by Boston gentlemen, were quite certain to be wicked and seditious — V.L.Parrington
factious suggests an addiction to factions with contentious perversity and irreconcilability threatening central constituted authority
Florence … wearing out her soul by factious struggles — Margaret Oliphant
the opposition will be vigilant but not factious. We shall not oppose merely for the sake of opposition — Clement Attlee
contumacious indicates persistent, willful, or overt defiance of authority and disobedience, sometimes contemptuous, of authority
a fine was appointed for every failure to obey the bishop's summons; he was empowered to excommunicate contumacious persons — F.M.Stenton
magistrates and populace were incensed at a refusal of customary marks of courtesy and respect for the laws, which in their eyes was purely contumacious — W.R.Inge
II. noun
: an insubordinate person