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
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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 festival’s final edition in Park City came to a close with two awards wins by Beth de Araújo’s disturbing drama starring Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan and Mason Reeves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Astronomers have detected subtle changes in the star's shape that suggest something is moving through its outer layers, disturbing the surrounding gas like an unseen visitor making noise inside a house.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026
And if you zoom out just a little bit, you see this same disturbing inequality through a much bigger lens—and people are finally getting mad about it.
From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026
Mr. Logan warns the careless away from parking on gravesites and prevents bridal photo shoots from disturbing those who have come to mourn the more recently deceased.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Anyway, it had been the young blond woman who'd wound up with the most disturbing story.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
