disquiet
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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
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disquietsimple
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disquietssimple
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have disquietedperfect
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has disquietedperfect
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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
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had disquietedperfect
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was disquietingprogressive
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were disquietingprogressive
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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. stocks ended slightly higher after another tug-of-war day for markets as AI fever contended with 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
But to outside observers and former military officials, they signal “a troubling disquiet within the ranks.”
From Salon ● May 3, 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
It took a long time for the study of human anatomy to become fully respectable—there remained a lingering disquiet about the whole business of cutting people up.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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
The angel, to calm her disquiets, says to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor before God.
From The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints January, February, March by Butler, Alban
But the continual disquiets of his soul rendered him suspicious of his own condition, and brought him to believe, that God had punished him, for not following the new apostle of the East.
From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 16 by Scott, Walter, Sir
"Monseigneur, the silence you keep every now and then disquiets me."
From The Queen's Necklace by Dumas père, Alexandre
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
How strange that the Under the Radar festival chose otherwise for the finish to a triptych structured like the industry’s shutdown and return: lonely isolation, cautious distance, disquieted reunion.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
Bran was glad for Robb's victory, but disquieted as well.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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
The movie’s real draw is its blissfully sinister sound design, which utilizes the podcaster lifestyle to go full maximalist while the film’s visual landscape remains sparse and disquieting.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 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
He had a disquieting new habit of boring into my eyes with his look as if actually bent on piercing my head, the better to analyze what went on inside it.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
