disruptive
Americanadjective
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causing, tending to cause, or caused by disruption; disrupting.
the disruptive effect of their rioting.
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Business.
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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.
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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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adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disruptive
Explanation
Anything disruptive is loud, chaotic, and disorderly. Disruptive things disturb people and upset the applecart. Have you ever heard a teacher tell a loud student "Stop being disruptive"? Things that are disruptive tend to disturb others. Kids whispering in class can be disruptive. A screaming baby on a plane can be disruptive. If you're trying to play baseball and it starts raining, that's disruptive as well. When you're trying to do something and a surprising event screws everything up, it can probably be described with the word disruptive.
Vocabulary lists containing disruptive
Make a Break for It: Rupt
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"Tinker v. Des Moines": Excerpts from Justice Fortas's Opinion
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Nothing But the Truth
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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.
Disruptive, an earlier investor in Reflection, is also expected to invest.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Disruptive did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 24, 2025
“This is a tradition of protest. Disruptive, to be sure. Annoying to university administrators, to be sure,” Jefferson said.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 30, 2024
Strano is also the co-lead principal investigator at the Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision research group at SMART.
From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2024
Disruptive discharge—Insulation—Spark—Brush—Difference of discharge at the positive and negative surfaces of conductors.
From Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 by Faraday, Michael
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.
