disagree

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English disagre (“to refuse to assent to”),[1] from Anglo-Norman disagreer, disagrer, desagreer (“to refuse assent”), from Old French desagreer, desagrëer (“to be disagreeable; to be unpleasant”) (modern French désagréer (“to displease”));[2] the English word is analysable as dis- +‎ agree.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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disagree (third-person singular simple present disagrees, present participle disagreeing, simple past and past participle disagreed)

  1. (intransitive) To fail to agree; to have a different opinion or belief.
    Synonym: beg to differ
    John disagreed with Mary frequently.
    Bob says cats are friendlier than dogs, but I disagree.
    • 2008, Nancy Pelosi, “A Voice That Will Be Heard”, in Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters‎[1], Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 96–97:
      Not only did I oppose President George H.W. Bush on his China policy, I strenuously disagreed with Democratic President Bill Clinton on his trade and human rights policies toward China and Tibet as well. This was difficult because I otherwise greatly supported and admired his leadership.
    • 2009 October 9, Peter Walker, The Guardian:
      You might think you look great in the full, body-hugging Lycra gimp suit, but chances are your girlfriend disagrees – according to the poll only 7% of the women asked found it a good look.
    • 2015 November 1, Barbara Ellen, “Let’s never get inured to online rape threats”, in The Observer‎[2]:
      If her manner of opposing the debate was deemed objectionable (she scoffed a little, saying that the lack of female parity in society was more of an issue), there were ways for people to disagree without resorting to lurid terrorisations.
    • 2024 April 3, Stephen Breyer, “Stephen Breyer: The Supreme Court I Served On Was Made Up of Friends”, in The New York Times‎[3]:
      Recently, the Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett spoke together publicly about how members of the court speak civilly to one another while disagreeing, sometimes vigorously, about the law.
  2. (intransitive) To fail to conform or correspond with.
    My results in the laboratory consistently disagree with yours.

Usage notes

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked‌: "to fail to agree"

References

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  1. ^ “disagrẹ̄, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “disagree, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2017; “disagree, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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