perturb
Americanverb (used with object)
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perturbs,
present (3rd person singular)
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perturbed,
past participle, past
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perturbing
present participle
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to disturb or disquiet greatly in mind; agitate.
I can see how such a massive change in your routine would perturb you.
- Antonyms:
- pacify
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to throw into great disorder.
Huge construction projects can take years to finish, and meanwhile, can greatly perturb the neighborhood.
- Synonyms:
- muddle, disarrange, confuse
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Astronomy. to cause perturbation in the orbit of (a celestial body).
verb
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to disturb the composure of; trouble
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to throw into disorder
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physics astronomy to cause (a planet, electron, etc) to undergo a perturbation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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perturbabilitynoun
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perturbatornoun
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perturbernoun
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perturbmentnoun
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nonperturbableadjective
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nonperturbingadjective
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perturbableadjective
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perturbatiousadjective
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perturbingadjective
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unperturbableadjective
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unperturbingadjective
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perturbablyadverb
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perturbinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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perturbsimple
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perturbssimple
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have perturbedperfect
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has perturbedperfect
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am perturbingprogressive
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are perturbingprogressive
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is perturbingprogressive
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have been perturbingperfect progressive
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has been perturbingperfect progressive
Past
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perturbedsimple
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had perturbedperfect
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was perturbingprogressive
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were perturbingprogressive
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had been perturbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of perturb
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English perturben (from Old French perturber ), from Latin perturbāre “to throw into confusion,” from per- per- + turbāre “to agitate, confuse” ( see turbid)
Explanation
To perturb is to bug or bother someone by confusing them or throwing them off balance. You can try, but it's almost impossible to perturb the guards outside Buckingham Palace. If you're having trouble getting used to the word perturb, you're in luck! It's similar in meaning to the verb "disturb." That's right, to perturb is to disturb, but in a way that suggests you're throwing it off its usual path or routine. The movie Born Free truly perturbed widespread views about animals—people suddenly started seeing them as individuals. If you stare at a person you don't know, it won't be long before you perturb them.
Vocabulary lists containing perturb
Grade 9, List 5
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The God of Small Things
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Be More Chill
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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:
"Through this theoretical framework, we found that we can use small physical boundaries up to ten meters to perturb ocean transport barriers that spans kilometers," said Fang.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026
Some possible treatments have looked to block the origin of the itch to relieve the sensation, Gualdani said, “but it seems if we perturb this pathway, we also perturb eventual itch relief.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026
Maybe overactive immune cells continue to perturb the nervous system and nearby blood vessels.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 14, 2023
Because it's so vast, and so poorly understood, Prof Schmidt added, "the worry is that we'll start destroying those ecosystems - and perturb all these vital processes - that we really don't understand".
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2021
The storm, and the resulting minor earthquakes, did not perturb the meerkats in the least.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
The main problem with room temperature is thermal noise, which perturbs delicate quantum dynamics.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 14, 2024
Perhaps this marks the beginning of a pop culture reconsideration of America’s role in the war, adding nuance that perturbs the accepted heroic narrative.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Alade Adeleke: It perturbs the coastal ecosystem, the water system changes, the fisheries is affected.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 17, 2021
It is where Snyder and his closest companions retreat when the game perturbs him, when his intensity boils over.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 14, 2016
A ghost story well told in the daytime perturbs a superstitious mind; but to feel queer at its recital in the night one need not necessarily be superstitious at all.
From The Siege of Kimberley by T. Phelan
But some do remain perturbed, including another teenager in the Scottish borders, 16-year-old Ellie, who says: "I was so scared of him when I was little," Ellie confides.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
“I can’t even believe it,” a visibly perturbed Putin said on camera.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
More curiously, even though U.S. high-yield spreads are at post-1998 lows, few investors seemed to be unduly perturbed here.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 18, 2025
His adversaries think he’ll crumple like yesterday’s broadsheet when they turn him away, and are perturbed to realize he’s more like the human equivalent of tissue hanging onto the heel of a shoe.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
In the past, Bobby had been perturbed by the constant criticism he received for his mode of dress.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The last is especially perturbing to the family dog, Starbuck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
That people are so susceptible to what they read, watch and listen to online is perturbing enough as it is.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2025
I was especially struck by an extremely perturbing exchange between the two, about what appears to be Summers’ embattled pursuit of a woman.
From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2025
We now show that perturbing the water layer around the protein, even very slightly, has dramatic effects on collagen assembly.'
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2024
But we have also been perturbing the climate in the opposite sense.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
