- present participle of disquiet.
disquieting
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disquieting
Explanation
When something really upsets or worries you, you can describe it as disquieting. The very best horror movies are supposed to be disquieting. Scary TV shows and books are disquieting, and even the local news or a documentary can be a bit disquieting, making you feel uncomfortable or rattled. In other words, they upset you with disturbing ideas, images, or subjects. You could also describe disquieting things as unsettling or distressing. The Latin roots are dis, "not," and quies, "peace."
Vocabulary lists containing disquieting
Night
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The Giver
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The Great Gatsby
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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.
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
A seemingly endless flurry of disquieting geopolitical headlines continues to sap investors’ risk appetite.
From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026
A disquieting collection of animatronics became fixtures in the director’s life.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025
Great artists major in defiance and minor in delusion: You will want to see what I have to offer, and love it, even if it is unfamiliar, disquieting and as ravishingly uncommercial as “Architecton.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025
Even for a man so little given to intuition as he was, the dark mansion was disquieting: it seemed to hold a hidden monster.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
