disservice

noun

dis·​ser·​vice (ˌ)di(s)-ˈsər-vəs 

: ill service : harm

also : an unhelpful, unkind, or harmful act

misinformation that does a disservice to readers

Synonyms

• inequity
• injury
• injustice
• raw deal
• shaft
• unfairness
• unjustness
• wrong

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

In its first public response to the campaign, the Office of Personnel Management on Monday argued union leaders and their attorneys are doing their members a disservice. —Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 3 Feb. 2025

Don’t do yourself the disservice of ignoring large swaths of the population, inadvertently or otherwise. —Ethan Karp, Forbes, 25 Nov. 2024

By riding through a red light, the writer would do the cycling community a disservice by reinforcing these unfortunate cycling stereotypes. —Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2025

The outgoing administration has done a disservice to America. —Dan Cox, Baltimore Sun, 15 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

disservice

noun

dis·​ser·​vice (ˈ)dis-ˈ(s)ər-vəs 

: an unhelpful, unkind, or harmful act

behavior that did a disservice to the sport