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Glite Dictionary
to disbar

to disbar

32 8.3
To stop a lawyer from working because of illegal or dishonest actions
  • verb
  • /dɪsˈbɑr/
  • Specialized
: inhabilitar
  • If the allegations are true, they will have no choice but to disbar her from practicing law.

Who's been almost disbarred at this point.

Examples

  • They're going to disbar me.

    The Devil's Advocate (1997)

  • He did not appear in person or otherwise fight the effort to disbar him.

    Academic text (2003)

  • They want to disbar him for allegedly playing fast and loose with clients' money.

    The Apprentice (2024)

  • The New Jersey Supreme Court voted 4-3 not to disbar him under the mandatory disbarment rule for taking client funds.

    Academic text (2003)

  • A history of dishonesty could get you disbarred as well as any pattern of violation of the professional code of ethics.

  • The committee decided to disbar the lawyer after finding evidence of fraud.

  • He was surprised to hear that the court will disbar him for violating ethical guidelines.

Antonyms

to reinstate
87 5.8

To return a person or thing to a previous position like a job

How Severe

to disbar
  • Specialized
32 8.3
to suspend
  • Formal
246 4.2
censure
  • Formal
47 7.4
to reprimand
  • Formal
33 6.1
to warn
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

disbar infinitive
disbarred past
disbarred past participle
disbarring present participle
disbars third person singular

Morphology

disbar = bar (semi-transparent) = dis + bar

The negative prefix 'dis-' and the base 'bar' ('to exclude') make the sense predictable, but the specific legal sense of removing a lawyer's right is specialized.

Etymology

The word disbar comes from dis- meaning 'away' and bar, the 'barrier' or place in a courtroom that stands for the group of lawyers. So, to disbar someone is to take them 'away' from the bar, which means to stop them from being a lawyer.