disruption

American  

[dis-ruhp-shuhn] / dɪsˈrʌp ʃən /

noun

• disruptions
  plural

1. forcible separation or division into parts.

2. a disrupted condition.

   After the coup, the country was in disruption.

3. Business. a radical change in an industry, business strategy, etc., especially involving the introduction of a new product or service that creates a new market.

   Globalization and the rapid advance of technology are major causes of business disruption.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• predisruption
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• disruptions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of disruption

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin disruptiōn-, stem of disruptiō; equivalent to disrupt + -ion

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Explanation

A disruption is a major disturbance, something that changes your plans or interrupts some event or process. A screaming child on an airplane can be a disruption of the passengers' sleep. A break in the action, especially an unplanned and confusing one, is a disruption. A sudden thunderstorm is an unwelcome disruption of an outdoor wedding ceremony, and a flat tire on an elaborate float will probably cause a parade disruption. When you disrupt something, you upset it or mess it up. In Latin disrupt means "broken into pieces," from dis, "apart," and rumpere, "to break."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

disruption disruptions

The government said supplies would not be interrupted but declaring severe drought would ensure "proactive steps are taken to safeguard water before any disruption occurs".

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Speaking at a Brussels summit Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Starlink services were still being restored, describing the disruption as "a very unpleasant and dangerous surprise".

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Goodwin and her colleagues tackled this problem by examining rare events known as tidal disruption events.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

For Lenkinski, the disruption was painful on several levels.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

Another especially effective strategy was disruption of the Indigenous trade networks, which caused food shortages and starvation.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

A bipartisan group of US senators has signed a letter demanding an investigation into the disruptions to the network.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Previous experiments involving animals have also identified the liver as one of the organs especially vulnerable to disruptions in the normal relationship between eating and sleeping.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026

And earlier this week, Ukraine reported disruptions to a critical US satellite communications system that its army uses on the battlefield.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Container freight rates are surging on strong cargo volumes ahead of anticipated changes to U.S.-China tariffs and supply disruptions caused by typhoons in China, the analyst writes in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Benjamin Rush mentions the disruptions in a few brief references, but provides no details.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

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Related Words

• confusion
• disorder
• disturbance

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