If someone is insubordinate, they refuse to do what a person with more authority has told them to do. The important piece is that ‘above them’: a soldier who will not follow an officer, a worker who will not follow a boss, a student who will not follow a teacher when the teacher is speaking as the one in charge. It is a serious, rather formal word. In the army or at work, calling someone insubordinate is close to a charge, not a small complaint about manners. Though actually, people sometimes throw it at a child who is only being noisy or cheeky — that is a stretch. The tidy meaning is not ‘naughty’ or even ‘rude’. You can dislike an order, ask a question, even argue, and still obey. Insubordinate is when the order has been heard and the answer is no. You would not usually use it about a friend who will not pick a restaurant.

不服從的；抗命的