disquiet
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
disquiets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disquieted,
past participle, past
-
disquieting
present participle
adjective
noun
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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disquietednessnoun
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disquietingadjective
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undisquietedadjective
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disquietedlyadverb
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disquietinglyadverb
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disquietlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disquietsimple
-
disquietssimple
-
have disquietedperfect
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has disquietedperfect
-
am disquietingprogressive
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are disquietingprogressive
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is disquietingprogressive
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have been disquietingperfect progressive
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has been disquietingperfect progressive
Past
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disquietedsimple
-
had disquietedperfect
-
was disquietingprogressive
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were disquietingprogressive
-
had been disquietingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disquiet
First recorded in 1520–30; dis- 1 + quiet in the sense “freedom from disturbance or tumult”
Explanation
If you feel a sense of disquiet, you're worried or anxious about something. Disquiet at the dinner table means that everyone feels upset or on edge. You can use the word disquiet as a noun or a verb. A feeling of disquiet might fill you as you walk slowly through a truly spooky haunted house. You can also say that a low, frightening sound coming from the room ahead disquiets you. The word dates from the 1500s, a combination of dis, "lack of" or "not" in Latin, and quiet, from the Latin root quietus, "calm, at rest, or free from exertion."
Vocabulary lists containing disquiet
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Don't Panic! Synonyms for "Stress"
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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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:
U.S. stock futures point to small losses while markets in Europe and Asia were largely in positive territory amid AI fever versus Mideast disquiet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
There is also disquiet that his eldest son – a businessman – is on the ballot for a senior party position for the first time.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
The report had caused disquiet in South Korea, where the system is a pillar of national defense against nuclear-armed North Korea.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
Cumming hinted at ongoing global disquiet without going too far or getting too pointed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2026
I pushed on, filled with mild disquiet, feeling like someone swimming too far from shore.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Cromwell identifies: “I have travelled so far to get here, and nothing they do disturbs me now, nor disquiets me, high on my branch.”
From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2020
The Second Half, which is due in the autumn, is billed as a blend of "memoir and motivational writing in a manner which both disquiets and reassures, in Roy Keane's own original voice".
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2014
When will you cease to present to the good doctor the spectacle of a scandalous folly which disquiets him?
From The Queen's Necklace by Alexandre Dumas père
"Monseigneur, the silence you keep every now and then disquiets me."
From The Queen's Necklace by Alexandre Dumas père
What principally disquiets him in this unpleasant way is the thought, which constantly haunts him, that something terrible will happen here.
From Weird Tales. Vol. I by E. T. A. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus) Hoffmann
The vast fortunes created by men such as Ford have long disquieted many intellectuals and journalists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
Many here see her as the embodiment of an America undergoing a cultural shift that threatens the heritage and political sensibilities of an old frontier town disquieted by changing times and suspicious of alternative lifestyles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2024
Herrera has disquieted many of his fellow Republicans for his edgy humor on his YouTube channel and podcast appearances.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
Japanese officials have also been disquieted by a series of joint military exercises conducted by China and Russia in the region.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
Even Drogon seemed disquieted by the sight of it.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
There is a particular brand of confidence required to assure party leaders and voters that one has no more skeletons in one’s closet, as Platner did before several more disquieting allegations emerged.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026
Golding is writing about the instability of the self, after all, and his prose enacts that instability: shifting perspectives and uncertain ground, relieved by moments of sudden, disquieting clarity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
This story of two strangers who take a job on a fishing boat — their lives are irrevocably altered once they return to shore — slowly pulls you inside its disquieting design.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
The concept came about in 2019, when anonymous users on message board 4chan were asked to "post disquieting images that just feel 'off'."
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
During this interval, the control agencies must have found news from Long Island disquieting.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
