discompose
Americanverb (used with object)
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to upset the order of; disarrange; disorder; unsettle.
The breeze discomposed the bouquet.
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to disturb the composure of; agitate; perturb.
The bad news discomposed us.
- Synonyms:
- disconcert, discomfit
verb
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to disturb the composure of; disconcert
-
rare to disarrange
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of discompose
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This did not seem to discompose him; on the contrary, he looked rather amused.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Far be it from me to willingly discompose an artist," replied Manasseh drily, "though from the elegance of the design, I venture to think my interruption will not make a hair's-breadth of difference.
From The King of Schnorrers Grotesques and Fantasies by Zangwill, Israel
It did not discompose him in the least, and again taking out his snuff-box, Gaston Cheverny’s snuff-box, he began to hum Sur le pont d’Avignon.
From Francezka by Seawell, Molly Elliot
"I have had something more than fatigue to discompose me," answered I, sobbing; "and I think I have some reproaches to make you, for not attending me home as you promised."
From The Sylph, Volume I and II by Cavendish, Georgiana
The vehemence with which I put this question seemed to discompose my attendant.
From The Devil's Elixir Vol. II (of 2) by Hoffmann, E. T. A. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus)
Without the injured Albiston, who had failed to emerge after the half-time break, they were crucially discomposed when Sulley took a corner in the sixtieth minute.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 9, 2016
As the poison of jealousy moves through his blood, Leontes’s seething monologues are accompanied by eerie, high-pitched strains in Keith Clouston’s score that cannily evoke the warped perspective of a discomposed mind.
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2011
He would call himself a Radical, and would not be greatly discomposed if someone called him a Socialist.
From Time Magazine Archive
I found Senator Glass lying on top of his counterpane, angrily nursing a bandaged toe, his hair and his pillow and his pajama coat and the bedding discomposed as he tossed to and fro.
From Time Magazine Archive
She saw how Romero avoided every brusque movement and saved his bulls for the last when he wanted them, not winded and discomposed but smoothly worn down.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Here, lines define the two figures while simultaneously discomposing and merging them.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2021
It was discomposing to find the key of the real door standing, ready for turning, in the lock.
From The Doomsman by Sutphen, Van Tassel
There is another kind of disturbance which shows itself also in the first year, and has a certain analogy to the discomposing effect of sound.
From Children's Ways by Sully, James
This last view is not popular, and when brought home to the invader has proved at times extremely discomposing.
From Where the Pavement Ends by Russell, John
St Paul’s was one of those minds, so discomposing to superficial and merely practical thinkers, which cannot be content with half-way conclusions.
From The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians by Findlay, G. G.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
