disconcert
Americanverb (used with object)
-
disconcerts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disconcerted,
past participle, past
-
disconcerting
present participle
verb
-
to disturb the composure of
-
to frustrate or upset
Synonym Usage
See confuse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disconcertsimple
-
disconcertssimple
-
have disconcertedperfect
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has disconcertedperfect
-
am disconcertingprogressive
-
are disconcertingprogressive
-
is disconcertingprogressive
-
have been disconcertingperfect progressive
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has been disconcertingperfect progressive
Past
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disconcertedsimple
-
had disconcertedperfect
-
was disconcertingprogressive
-
were disconcertingprogressive
-
had been disconcertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disconcert
From the obsolete French word disconcerter, dating back to 1680–90. See dis- 1, concert
Explanation
To disconcert is to unsettle someone, or make them feel confused and out of sorts. Finding a soup ladle in your sock drawer would definitely disconcert you! Disconcert comes from the old French word disconcerter, meaning "confused." The prefix dis means "not" — it has a bad attitude and shows up in words like disagree and disown. The second part of the word comes from the verb concerter, "to bring together." If you disconcert someone, you make them feel uncomfortable and maybe a little embarrassed.
Vocabulary lists containing disconcert
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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.
See Examples For:
Djokovic's on-court aura can disconcert many younger opponents and Alexander Zverev, often described as the best player of his generation to have never won a major, is one of them.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Despite a few postmodern flourishes and some teasing structural game playing, their latest offerings are unlikely to disconcert habitual watchers of “Masterpiece” television.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2017
“Not a smile. It’s not the smile that will disconcert me. Not at all. Or his eyes that will make me afraid. Because I’m not afraid of him.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2017
The poem's athletic feats of wit may entertain readers, or disconcert them, but it has a purpose beyond rhetoric: it is an act of mourning ... and, maybe, an act of self-heartening, too.
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2012
To faze is to disconcert or embarrass; it comes from a Middle English word, fesen, which meant “drive away” or “put to flight.”
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
From the moment Victor Stott is born, he disconcerts those around him.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2022
That shift in focus disconcerts consumer advocates, who are in favor of better financial education, but not at the expense of oversight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2019
As he’s driving home from work, a song comes on the radio that disconcerts him and triggers a whole train of thought.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 6, 2017
What disconcerts me sometimes is what’s expected of the genre.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 20, 2014
The silence and the intimacy of the room disconcerts him.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Even Emily Blunt was publicly disconcerted, begging Hollywood agencies to “please stop taking away our human connection.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
When they visit St. Cloud’s and meet Dr. Larch, they are disconcerted by “an antiseptic smell, or something medicinal” in his office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
They are disconcerted by the prospect of apex predators roaming their territory, including on popular trails.
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2024
He said he did not believe the audience would be disconcerted if he appeared as a newsman on television on Sundays and a pitchman on the radio during the week.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
Though they are home they are disconcerted by the space, by the uncompromising silence that surrounds them.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
But they did have one potentially innovative and surprising, if disconcerting, solution to our national public health information crisis: A.I. has the potential to help stave off a conspiratorial catastrophe during the next pandemic.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
"They're watching us - which is probably the most disconcerting part about it," said Chris Edwards.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Mr. Dillon’s tone of clinical detachment—from the horrors of the Mao years, for example—can be disconcerting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
They describe working with Lithgow in glowing terms to Out Magazine while admitting they found his decision to participate in the “Harry Potter” series disconcerting and vaguely hurtful.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2026
Our meeting — at a safe house in town — was disconcerting.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
