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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List 3
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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:
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
Using this epigenomic editing technology, the researchers can "perturb" candidate regions to see whether any tested genomic regions can impact downstream gene expression.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2023
Maybe overactive immune cells continue to perturb the nervous system and nearby blood vessels.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 14, 2023
"There was no physical violence or rise in thefts, but they perturb people who are from here," he says, adding: "From now on it's zero tolerance."
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2022
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
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fictional West Egg, Nick Carraway’s “ragged lawn” so perturbs Jay Gatsby that he sends his own gardener to tame it.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2019
Now this development naturally perturbs and even paralyzes us.
From What's Wrong with the World by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
Not that McIlroy seemed perturbed as the wind gusted beyond 30mph across the 7,440-yard track.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Lobo appeared perturbed that the shop’s owner brought the claim to the Clark County District Attorney instead of filing a civil suit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 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
But the tall muscular man next to Leo Tilden—his assistant, Sven, probably—looked fairly perturbed.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
The last is especially perturbing to the family dog, Starbuck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
By combining this data with gene expression analysis and the known effects of perturbing specific genes, scientists have ascribed functions to such chromatin marks.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2024
"It is clearly in humanity's interest to avoid perturbing Earth system to a degree that risks changing global environmental conditions so markedly," the authors wrote.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2023
This is because the smoke has disrupted this dynamic growth pattern, as opposed to just perturbing a more stable system like an adult.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2023
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.
