disturb
Americanverb (used with object)
-
disturbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disturbed,
past participle, past
-
disturbing
present participle
-
to interrupt the quiet, rest, peace, or order of; unsettle.
-
to interfere with; interrupt; hinder.
Please do not disturb me when I'm working.
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to interfere with the arrangement, order, or harmony of; disarrange.
to disturb the papers on her desk.
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to perplex; trouble.
to be disturbed by strange behavior.
verb (used without object)
-
disturbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disturbed,
past participle, past
-
disturbing
present participle
verb
-
to intrude on; interrupt
-
to destroy or interrupt the quietness or peace of
-
to disarrange; muddle
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(often passive) to upset or agitate; trouble
I am disturbed at your bad news
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to inconvenience; put out
don't disturb yourself on my account
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disturbsimple
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disturbssimple
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have disturbedperfect
-
has disturbedperfect
-
am disturbingprogressive
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are disturbingprogressive
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is disturbingprogressive
-
have been disturbingperfect progressive
-
has been disturbingperfect progressive
Past
-
disturbedsimple
-
had disturbedperfect
-
was disturbingprogressive
-
were disturbingprogressive
-
had been disturbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disturb
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English distorben, distourben, disturben, from Anglo-French desturber, disto(u)rber, from Latin disturbāre “to demolish, upset,” from dis- dis- 1 + turbāre “to agitate, confuse” ( see turbid)
Explanation
To disturb is to bother. If you hang a "Do not disturb" sign on the outside of your hotel room door, you want to be left alone. Disturb comes from the Latin prefix dis-, meaning "completely" and turbare, meaning "to disorder." To disturb is, in a sense, to completely disorder. When you disturb something, you interfere with its normal function. Along those lines, it's also a word used to describe the interruption of sleep or relaxation. Your alarm disturbs you from sleep every morning. When something disturbs you, it can also cause you emotional anxiety. A horror movie might disturb you with its goriness.
Vocabulary lists containing disturb
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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The Circuit
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"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven"
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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.
See Examples For:
Thin stellar streams may be especially valuable because small concentrations of dark matter can potentially disturb them, producing visible gaps or clumps.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Despite the cold, there’s no radiation to worry about and only gentle 10 mph winds to disturb those dunes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
The subject is both boring and harrowing, so why disturb the moment?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
"It is defended precisely when those opinions disturb or provoke disagreement, provided that they form part of democratic debate, as is the case across all of our media outlets."
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Arr, matey, who dares to disturb the pirate captain’s slumber?”
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
“Like the anger disturbs my body so much that it makes me cry. No matter how much I tried to unplug from Carol, my body didn’t understand that I was pretending.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
When ions move through a crystal lattice in a fluid-like way, their motion temporarily disturbs the lattice symmetry.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026
Old Hunter, an ex-police detective now working in private security, disturbs Chen’s depressive apathy with a request that he help find a man called X, a former philosophy professor who ran afoul of authorities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Just like moving fingers under the running water from a tap can disrupt its steady flow, HIP 67522 b disturbs the star’s magnetic field as it orbits around its host star.
From Space Scoop ● Jul. 17, 2025
"See that no one disturbs his rest without leave from me."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
But analysts weren’t as disturbed by the results, remaining bullish enough on the stock that it made the screen.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
By changing the pulse intensity, the researchers could control how strongly they disturbed the charge density waves.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Note: the Lynch compound and all other residential locations mentioned are all private residences, and not to be disturbed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
The company introduced flexible working, fidget toys in meeting rooms, and red or green "busy lights" on desks, that allow staff to indicate whether they're happy to be disturbed.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Metal blades bit into damp dirt, easily moved as if previously disturbed.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
“We felt the speaking version of the character was weird and disturbing and the voice never completely even matched what I thought Wile E. would sound like,” Green says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
All of which is disturbing enough, if not surprising.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
But John’s history is disturbing in a way that’s outside the usual parameters of the Justice League of America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The findings suggest that some genetic mutations may cause disease not only by changing individual genetic instructions, but also by disturbing the physical arrangement of the genome itself.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Now he turned away from the disturbing news reports and forced himself to stare at the phone, trying to make it ring.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
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.
