disturbed
Americanadjective
-
marked by symptoms of mental illness.
a disturbed personality.
-
agitated or distressed; disrupted.
disturbed seas; a disturbed situation.
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of disturbed
Explanation
If something is disturbed, it's been moved or changed — it's not positioned or functioning the way it usually does. Traveling across the globe gives many people disturbed sleep patterns. If your younger brother has been snooping in your room, the only evidence might be the disturbed items on your desk — maybe he rifled through your diary and left it in a different spot. When people are described as disturbed, it means they're troubled emotionally. The word comes from the Latin disturbare, "throw into disorder," and its root turba, "turmoil."
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.
Disturbed REM sleep can also lead to impairments in the consolidation of memories, cognitive function and how you regulate your emotions.
From Salon • Jan. 20, 2025
Disturbed by an eerily silent crowd, France stirred and Damian Penaud burst into life to score his 36th try in 49 international games.
From BBC • Feb. 3, 2024
Disturbed by statistics on Italian emigration that swelled to 84,000 in 1884 alone, Scalabrini wrote that the mass emigration and separation of families would “help strew white the lands of America with their bones.”
From Seattle Times • Oct. 9, 2022
Disturbed, Mendez filed a complaint on the Sheriff’s Department’s website, which made its way up to Villanueva.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2022
There is no face for Disturbed on the Facial Expressions Chart so I don’t know exactly what it looks like.
From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine
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.
