disoblige

English

Etymology

From Middle French desobliger. By surface analysis, dis- +‎ oblige.

Verb

disoblige (third-person singular simple present disobliges, present participle disobliging, simple past and past participle disobliged)

1. (British) to be unwilling to oblige; to disappoint, to inconvenience, not to cooperate.

   Sorry to disoblige everybody; I know you were depending on me to bring a good weather forecast for our fête, but it is going to rain.

   • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 2:

     But Miss Frances married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on a Lieutenant of Marines, without education, fortune, or connexions, did it very thoroughly.

2. (British) To offend by an act of unkindness or incivility.

Antonyms

• oblige

Derived terms

• disobliger