disrupt
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause disorder or turmoil in.
The news disrupted their conference.
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to destroy, usually temporarily, the normal continuance or unity of; interrupt.
Telephone service was disrupted for hours.
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to break apart.
to disrupt a connection.
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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.
adjective
verb
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(tr) to throw into turmoil or disorder
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(tr) to interrupt the progress of (a movement, meeting, etc)
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to break or split (something) apart
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing disrupt
Make a Break for It: Rupt
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This Week in Words: December 9 - 15, 2017
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President Obama's Speech to the Nation about Terrorism
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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.
Several groups, including Vietnam War veterans, have also sued to block the project, arguing it has not followed proper procedure and would disrupt the view from Arlington National Cemetery.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
The companies are among the survivors of the quest to disrupt aviation using new aircraft designs, electricity and AI.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
If I had wanted to disrupt, I would have done something like make a sound or hold a sign.
From Slate • May 19, 2026
The NCA said 950 people have been arrested and more than £10m worth of goods seized over the past 18 months and the new unit would help it target and disrupt more "high harm offenders".
From BBC • May 18, 2026
She takes up space, and food, and she causes problems with the discipline of the tykes, telling them stories, teaching them games so that they make noise and disrupt the work.’”
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
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.
