disruptive

[ dis-ruhp-tiv ]

/ dɪsˈrʌp tɪv /

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See synonyms for: disruptive / disruptiveness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

causing, tending to cause, or caused by disruption; disrupting: the disruptive effect of their rioting.

Business.

relating to or noting a new product, service, or idea that radically changes an industry or business strategy, especially by creating a new market and disrupting an existing one: disruptive innovations such as the cell phone and the two-year community college.
relating to or noting a business executive or company that introduces or is receptive to such innovation: disruptive CEOs with imagination and vision.

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Origin of disruptive

First recorded in 1835–45; disrupt + -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM disruptive

dis·rup·tive·ly, adverbdis·rup·tive·ness, nounnon·dis·rup·tive, adjective

Words nearby disruptive

disrespectful, disrobe, disroot, disrupt, disruption, disruptive, disruptive discharge, disrupture, diss, dissatisfaction, dissatisfactory

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use disruptive in a sentence

In the past year since the directorate was launched, the NSA called out nation-state hackers, warned of new strains of disruptive malware and advised on how to patch or mitigate major vulnerabilities.
NSA’s Anne Neuberger to talk cybersecurity at Disrupt 2020|Zack Whittaker|September 4, 2020|TechCrunch
It might be a little less bright, but for all intents and purposes, it’s just as disruptive to astronomical observations—for potentially the entire night.
Satellite mega-constellations risk ruining astronomy forever|Neel Patel|September 2, 2020|MIT Technology Review
However, it could also be disruptive of the review economy in a very positive way.
Apple Ratings is coming to iOS 14, how disruptive will it be?|Greg Sterling|September 1, 2020|Search Engine Land
The pandemic’s disruptive force has spurred transformational change in our organization, as well as in many others.
COVID-19 has spurred rapid transformation in health care. Let’s make sure it stays that way|jakemeth|August 20, 2020|Fortune

Covid-19, however, has been disruptive enough to shake them up, and companies are trying to take advantage.
There are only a few moments in life when buying habits change, and a pandemic is one of them|Marc Bain|August 8, 2020|Quartz
One of the most disruptive forces to the market in recent years is DISH.
New Innovations Let You Watch TV Anywhere You Go||December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I have a very disruptive personality for the industry,” he says.
The Hot Designer Who Hates Fashion: VK Nagrani Triumphs His Own Way|Tom Teodorczuk|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the surface, In Situ appears less disruptive than its alternative, but this is only an illusion.
Our Trip to The Climate War's Ground Zero|Darren Aronofsky|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Uber and Airbnb—the most successful services of their kind—are “disruptive” innovations.
Inside Uber’s Political War Machine|Olivia Nuzzi|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So she made changes that have transformed the Times online; is that what her critics mean when they allege she was disruptive?
The Hypocrisy Behind The New York Times’s Abrupt Decapitation of Jill Abramson|Robert Shrum|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A flash of lightning is a disruptive electrical discharge upon a grand scale.
A Text-Book of Astronomy|George C. Comstock
One cannot view with equanimity that which appears to be totally disruptive of one's dear little system of living.
The Kempton-Wace Letters|Jack London
By this difficult and dangerous process, the gunpowder is confined, and the disruptive effect produced.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
It was all too ridiculous, the introducing of disruptive foreign substances into the bodies of little black men-folk.
The Jacket (The Star-Rover)|Jack London
Dynamic influences have a decisive effect upon cohesion and disruptive tensions.
A Mechanico-Physiological Theory of Organic Evolution|Carl Von Ngeli

British Dictionary definitions for disruptive

disruptive

/ (dɪsˈrʌptɪv) /

adjective

involving, causing, or tending to cause disruption

Derived forms of disruptive

disruptively, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

disruptive

Origin of disruptive

OTHER WORDS FROM disruptive

Words nearby disruptive

Words related to disruptive

How to use disruptive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for disruptive

Derived forms of disruptive