disquietude

American  

[dis-kwahy-i-tood, -tyood] / dɪsˈkwaɪ ɪˌtud, -ˌtyud /

noun

1. the state of disquiet; uneasiness.

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disquietude British  

/ dɪsˈkwaɪɪˌtjuːd /

noun

1. a feeling or state of anxiety or uneasiness

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Etymology

Origin of disquietude

First recorded in 1700–10; dis- ¹ + quietude

Explanation

Sometimes, maybe for no reason at all, you might become agitated with a feeling of restless agitation. This feeling is a sense of disquietude, an edgy feeling that something in your universe is out of order. If you break down the word disquietude you come to its root word, quiet, which means still or noiseless. The dis- prefix means "not," giving it the opposite meaning, and the ending -tude makes it a state of being. So the word literally means "state of being unquiet." For example, it was said in the Washington Post that the 19th-20th-century artist Edward Hopper's paintings present a picture of the disquietude, or uneasiness, of American life.

Example Sentences

The outrageous comedy of "Joan Is Awful" blunts whatever disquietude we may feel about the episode.

From Salon • Jun. 17, 2023

The group’s songs, all dance grooves, pulsing bass lines and ’80s-tinged synths, have typically reeked of disquietude and served as a maze into Healy’s brilliant but occasionally self-indulgent mind.

From Washington Post • Oct. 21, 2022

But in times when I feel swells of disquietude, I don’t try to suppress them.

From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2021

The front-runner for Best Play is probably Stephen Karam’s bleak and revelatory drama “The Humans,” which has much to say, albeit indirectly, about the disquietude driving this election season.

From The New Yorker • May 3, 2016

In the morning my father’s disquietude was proven.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya