disrupt

American  

[dis-ruhpt] / dɪsˈrʌpt /

verb (used with object)

• disrupts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• disrupted,
  past participle,  past
• disrupting
  present participle

1. to cause disorder or turmoil in.

   The news disrupted their conference.

2. to destroy, usually temporarily, the normal continuance or unity of; interrupt.

   Telephone service was disrupted for hours.

3. to break apart.

   to disrupt a connection.

4. Business. to radically change (an industry, business strategy, etc.), as by introducing a new product or service that creates a new market.

   It’s time to disrupt your old business model.

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adjective

1. broken apart; disrupted.

disrupt British  

/ dɪsˈrʌpt /

verb

1. (tr) to throw into turmoil or disorder

2. (tr) to interrupt the progress of (a movement, meeting, etc)

3. to break or split (something) apart

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• disrupter
  noun
• disruption
  noun
• disruptor
  noun
• nondisrupting
  adjective
• undisrupted
  adjective
• nondisruptingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• disrupting
  present
• disrupted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• disrupt
  simple
• disrupts
  simple
• have disrupted
  perfect
• has disrupted
  perfect
• am disrupting
  progressive
• are disrupting
  progressive
• is disrupting
  progressive
• have been disrupting
  perfect progressive
• has been disrupting
  perfect progressive

Past

• disrupted
  simple
• had disrupted
  perfect
• was disrupting
  progressive
• were disrupting
  progressive
• had been disrupting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will disrupt
  simple
• will have disrupted
  perfect
• will be disrupting
  progressive
• will have been disrupting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of disrupt

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin disruptus, variant of dīruptus “broken apart,” past participle of dīrumpere “to break apart,” from dī- di- ² + rumpere “to break”

Explanation

To disrupt is to interrupt or throw something into disorder. If you don't turn your phone off before a play, it might ring and disrupt the actors and the audience. Disrupt goes back to the Latin root disrumpere, "to break apart." When you disrupt, you break someone's concentration, break up a routine, or break apart a system or order, as when bad weather disrupts the travel plans of people in airports. Even if your headphones keep the music in your ears only, singing out loud can disrupt those around you. A larger interruption would be if a war were to erupt. That would disrupt the peace of an entire region and its people.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

disrupt disrupts disrupted disrupting

When Indonesia first announced plans to integrate processes for the exports of key resources, it stoked concerns about state intervention that would disrupt the flow of commodities like coal and palm oil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

“I just don’t think this move in yield is as explosive yet as it’s going to need to be,” he said, “if it’s going to disrupt equities.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

But she said music being performed on Thursdays would disrupt residents' sleep on a working night.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Farage did not attend the results, saying Essex Police had warned him that an "organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result" was planned.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

“So smart about how you present yourself before the cameras. I didn’t want to disrupt that.”

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

The Chinese embassy in Washington said the move "seriously disrupts" trade between the two countries and Beijing will act to protect its companies.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

They argue high concentration of the elements of mifepristone in water, specifically a hormone called progesterone, disrupts and reduces fertility in women.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026

Another "safety net" measure gives the European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, the power to suspend the pact if the United States fails to meet its commitments or disrupts trade and investment.

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

This, in turn, disrupts important neuronal signaling pathways, providing a likely explanation for the movement-related symptoms seen in affected patients.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 13, 2026

We trade in our morning books for our afternoon books and then Boy21 says, “They don’t want me to wear my outer-space clothes. They say it disrupts the school day. Do you agree?”

From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick

It is the latest tremor in the world of Big Law, which is being disrupted by aggressive poaching of rainmakers, the pressure of artificial intelligence and less-loyal clients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

The Slovenian-born former model skipped a number of other major events including the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner on July 24, despite having attended the first version in April, which was disrupted by a gunman.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Water service for some residents in the area was disrupted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

They then disrupted or destroyed that electronic pattern and watched to see how the two waves returned.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

The sirrahs continued to circle, squalling their ravenous chorus, and their ranks were disrupted once more, as they had been yesterday, by the passage of a message falcon.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

At one point, the mayor even compared street taco vendors to homeless encampments, with both supposedly disrupting the fabric of a well-run city.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

But this year’s gargantuan amount of AI-related debt supply also “feels like they are hitting a limit of what’s possible without disrupting the market.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Boat noise has been shown to affect whales in particular, stressing them out, disrupting their hunting and drowning out their ocean-spanning songs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Any tactic which can be judged as disrupting play - including leaving the ball on a cone and dropping the ball for a team-mate - could trigger a countdown.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

The scoutmaster had given them a long lecture about disrupting nature—by the end of it, Jonah felt guilty about how many protozoans he’d probably killed.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• breach
• break into
• obstruct