antisocial
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
All four describe behaviour that other people find unwelcome, but they differ in scope and severity. 'Antisocial' is the broad everyday term in British English for actions that disturb or damage the community — graffiti, noise, public drunkenness — and is the standard label used by police and councils. 'Disruptive' is narrower: it means breaking the order of a specific setting, like a classroom or meeting, without necessarily implying moral wrongdoing. 'Delinquent' is stronger and almost always applied to young people whose behaviour crosses into rule-breaking or petty crime. 'Uncivil' is the mildest and most formal — it covers rudeness, sharp words, or bad manners rather than real harm. So a teenager shouting in class is disruptive, the same teenager keying cars at night is antisocial, and a repeat offender becomes delinquent.
Common collocations
Etymology
Formed in the late 1700s by joining the prefix 'anti-' (meaning 'against' or 'opposed to', from Greek 'anti') with 'social' (from Latin 'socialis', meaning 'of companionship'). The earliest uses described ideas or actions that worked against the interests of organised society. The personal-preference sense — describing someone who simply avoids company — developed later as everyday speakers extended the word from group harm to individual habit.