disserve

D2I1S1S1E1R1V4E1

verb

To treat poorly; to do a disservice to

OriginOld French desservir ← Latin dis- →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbdisserve (third-person singular simple present disserves, present participle disserving, simple past and past participle disserved)

present singular third person disserves · participle present disserving · participle past disserved · past disserved

  1. To treat poorly; to do a disservice to

    They are an excellent group of journalists, and over the last five years the executives manhandling their newspaper have disserved them at every turn.

    1988 August 12, Michael Miner, “Cop and Writer; Manhandling the Sun-Times”, in Chicago Reader

Origin

  1. Latindis-“indicating negation”
  2. Old Frenchdesservir
  3. Englishdisserve

From Old French desservir, from Latin dis- (“indicating negation”) + servīre (“to serve”).

More words from Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian правя лоша услуга
  • правя лоша услуга (pravja loša usluga)to do a disservice to
Spanish deservir
  • deservirto do a disservice to

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

dissever
Cite this entry
APA

disserve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disserve

MLA

“disserve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disserve. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disserve,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disserve.

Source: disserve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.