disconcert
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to disturb the composure of
-
to frustrate or upset
Related Words
See confuse.
Other Word Forms
- disconcerted adjective
- disconcertion noun
- disconcertment noun
Etymology
Origin of disconcert
From the obsolete French word disconcerter, dating back to 1680–90. See dis- 1, concert
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.
In Twin Peaks “they tend to disconcert us because there is something ‘off’ about them.”
From The Guardian • Apr. 8, 2020
They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert.
From Slate • Dec. 12, 2019
“Not a smile. It’s not the smile that will disconcert me. Not at all. Or his eyes that will make me afraid. Because I’m not afraid of him.”
From Seattle Times • Oct. 1, 2017
The result is a genuinely fascinating piece that takes a while to build and may, at the outset, disconcert the accent police with the more persistently adenoidal sounds of the women in the cast.
From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2011
To faze is to disconcert or embarrass; it comes from a Middle English word, fesen, which meant “drive away” or “put to flight.”
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
