disruptive

[dis-ruhp-tiv]

See more synonyms for disruptive on Thesaurus.com

adjective

causing, tending to cause, or caused by disruption; disrupting: the disruptive effect of their rioting.
Business.
1. 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.
2. relating to or noting a business executive or company that introduces or is receptive to such innovation: disruptive CEOs with imagination and vision.

Origin of disruptive

First recorded in 1835–45; disrupt + -ive

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for disruptive

upsetting, disturbing, troublesome, rowdy, unruly, disorderly, obstreperous, unsettling, off-base, troublemaking

Examples from the Web for disruptive

Contemporary Examples of disruptive

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
Uber and Airbnb—the most successful services of their kind—are “disruptive” innovations.
Inside Uber’s Political War Machine
Olivia Nuzzi
June 30, 2014
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
Cable news could be great conversation if it were willing to be disruptive.
Elizabeth Wurtzel: My Tea Party Mom Loves Al Jazeera America
Elizabeth Wurtzel
September 4, 2013
But the track record of disruptive owners in Japan is pretty dismal.
Japan’s Fiscal Crossroads: Will Abenomics Mean Tougher Changes?
Daniel Gross
July 26, 2013

Historical Examples of disruptive

Which tendency is it that is acting as the present disruptive force in Europe?
The Fruits of Victory
Norman Angell
But its tendency when applied to governmental machinery is disruptive.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 5
Various
The disruptive forces, however, may be easily overestimated.
Stephen A. Douglas
Allen Johnson
This disruptive coloration seems to be directly associated with the pebble-bottom, stream-inhabiting tadpoles.
Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca
William E. Duellman
Until the latter year it was purely a revolutionary movement, attracting to itself all the disruptive elements of its time.
German Culture Past and Present
Ernest Belfort Bax

British Dictionary definitions for disruptive

disruptive

adjective

involving, causing, or tending to cause disruption

Derived Formsdisruptively, 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

Word Origin and History for disruptive

adj.

1862 (in electricity sense from 1842); see disrupt + -ive. Related: Disruptively; disruptiveness.