disturbing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disturbing
Explanation
When something really worries or upsets you, you can describe it as disturbing. War photography is usually disturbing. It can be disturbing to see people be hurt, or a child going hungry: it troubles the person who is witnessing such difficulties. Some strange things are also often described as disturbing, such as bizarre clown art or people who walk around dressed in animal costumes. If it bothers and distresses you, it's disturbing. The Latin root, disturbare, combines dis, "completely," with turbare, "to disorder."
Vocabulary lists containing disturbing
May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Words
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Mockingbird
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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.
The technique is becoming increasingly popular in wildlife research because it allows scientists to study animals without disturbing them.
From Science Daily • May 20, 2026
And on that disturbing note, we've reached the end of the list.
From BBC • May 8, 2026
It marks a disturbing shift from the values that shaped modern democracies.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
The Pakistani prime minister wrote he was "deeply shocked by the disturbing shooting incident."
From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026
It’s pretty disturbing to see war machines traverse the neighborhood you grew up in—and if that’s not troubling enough, the truck turns left, directly into the high school parking lot.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
