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.
It can alter immune activity, disrupt nerve structures, and reshape tissues throughout the body, increasing the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, neuropathy, and cancer.
From Science Daily • May 23, 2026
Automakers warn that higher trade barriers with Canada and Mexico could elevate car prices and disrupt supply chains.
From The Wall Street Journal • 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
Wall Street has gone from believing AI will disrupt cybersecurity to believing it increases the need for the products that companies like CrowdStrike provide, especially as AI agents become more popular.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
But there was something about the largest object in the solar system vanishing that tended to disrupt normal schedules.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
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.
