disturb
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
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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
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disturbsimple
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disturbssimple
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have disturbedperfect
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has disturbedperfect
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am disturbingprogressive
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are disturbingprogressive
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is disturbingprogressive
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have been disturbingperfect progressive
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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:
"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
Meanwhile, BBC DJ Sara Cox's husband had the result spoiled by cheering neighbours - after deciding to sleep downstairs so as not to disturb his wife ahead of her Radio 2 debut on Monday.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Last year, a petition to halt Big Bear Lake’s annual fireworks display collected more than 40,000 signatures from people concerned that the event would disturb the area’s famous bald eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
In this world, the bizarre proclivities of one man can disturb the peace and rattle markets.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Something about the inner tubes seemed to disturb her deeply, and she attacked them with frightening gusto.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Any attempt to intercept the quantum signals disturbs them, creating detectable errors that alert users to possible eavesdropping.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 17, 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
The new footage shows how the chain that the trawlers drag behind them scours the seafloor, forcing the creatures it disturbs into the net behind.
From BBC ● May 5, 2025
And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
A crew member learned from a friend that the only person with access to the St John’s safe was at the college’s own rowing dinner, and not to be disturbed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
When an anthill is disturbed, the response comes from the colony acting together rather than from any individual ant.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
Lord Robertson told MPs that Britain's Nato allies were "disturbed" by the delay to the UK government's plan to invest in defence, which he described as "unconvincing".
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
"I was very disturbed by it for a couple of days. They're historical."
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
I tossed the bottle in a nearby bin and took my phone off do not disturb, now that I was ready to be disturbed again.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
After a disturbing video was livestreamed on social media involving Perez Hilton on Tuesday, the celebrity blogger’s family is offering a health update.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Recently, a weakening yen has been paired with another disturbing market dynamic: higher Japanese bond yields.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Sinn Féin councillor Eugene McConnell said that while there may have been valid reasons for the farm animals to be culled, the public way it was carried out was "disturbing".
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
He walks over to the cat and picks him up, and in previous adaptations of this story, this might signal that a disturbing act of animal cruelty is about to happen.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
I was finally finishing when Earth’s puny, pale sun rose into the sky, and the strangest, most disturbing thing yet occurred.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
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.
