- present participle of alarm.
alarming
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of alarming
Explanation
Something that's alarming is disturbing or upsetting. It can be alarming when you hear a sudden, loud crash of thunder. The idea of climate change is very alarming to many people, and the sound of a police car's siren is alarming when you're driving. Things that are alarming grab your attention, and either frighten you or at least unsettle you. The adjective alarming comes from alarm, via the Old French alarme, which is rooted in the Italian interjection all'arme, a rally or warning cry, "to arms!"
Vocabulary lists containing alarming
The Magician's Nephew
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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Uh-Oh: Synonyms for "Dangerous"
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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.
Latino men who cut artificial stone countertops in California are falling ill from an incurable and deadly lung disease at an alarming rate, a new study finds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Amnesty International described the Kafwaya's killing as "deeply alarming" and called for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
That’s the bond market’s message to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in recent days, following his sudden efforts to calm an alarming selloff in long-term U.S. government bonds that recently pushed yields up a two-decade high.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
"Deploying this admittedly less than lethal technology, in an era when we're really not all that interested in providing training to the officers about how to use that technology, really is alarming," Sandweg said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
“Then you told me, two years later, that on the night that Voldemort returned to his body, he made a most illuminating and alarming statement to his Death Eaters. ‘
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
