loyal
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
always giving your support to a person, group, or country.
demonstrating constant and undivided support or allegiance to a person, institution, or sovereign.
Simple“She has been a loyal friend to me for over twenty years.”
In context“The senator remained loyal to his party despite the growing public pressure to vote against the controversial new legislation.”
UsageTypically followed by the preposition 'to' when indicating the object of devotion.
PitfallHe is loyal with his friends. He is loyal to his friends.The adjective 'loyal' is followed by the preposition 'to', not 'with'.
Antonyms
“MPs may seem loyal to Poilievre now, but if allowing him to keep his job means they might lose theirs, expect that to change.”
“Anton was 10 when his part of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region was taken over by forces loyal to Moscow.”
Borrowed from Middle French loyal, from Old French loial, leial, leal, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of legal and leal.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.