disturb
Americanverb (used with object)
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disturbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disturbed,
past participle, past
-
disturbing
present participle
-
to interrupt the quiet, rest, peace, or order of; unsettle.
-
to interfere with; interrupt; hinder.
Please do not disturb me when I'm working.
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to interfere with the arrangement, order, or harmony of; disarrange.
to disturb the papers on her desk.
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to perplex; trouble.
to be disturbed by strange behavior.
verb (used without object)
-
disturbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disturbed,
past participle, past
-
disturbing
present participle
verb
-
to intrude on; interrupt
-
to destroy or interrupt the quietness or peace of
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to disarrange; muddle
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(often passive) to upset or agitate; trouble
I am disturbed at your bad news
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to inconvenience; put out
don't disturb yourself on my account
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disturbsimple
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disturbssimple
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have disturbedperfect
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has disturbedperfect
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am disturbingprogressive
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are disturbingprogressive
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is disturbingprogressive
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have been disturbingperfect progressive
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has been disturbingperfect progressive
Past
-
disturbedsimple
-
had disturbedperfect
-
was disturbingprogressive
-
were disturbingprogressive
-
had been disturbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disturb
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English distorben, distourben, disturben, from Anglo-French desturber, disto(u)rber, from Latin disturbāre “to demolish, upset,” from dis- dis- 1 + turbāre “to agitate, confuse” ( see turbid)
Explanation
To disturb is to bother. If you hang a "Do not disturb" sign on the outside of your hotel room door, you want to be left alone. Disturb comes from the Latin prefix dis-, meaning "completely" and turbare, meaning "to disorder." To disturb is, in a sense, to completely disorder. When you disturb something, you interfere with its normal function. Along those lines, it's also a word used to describe the interruption of sleep or relaxation. Your alarm disturbs you from sleep every morning. When something disturbs you, it can also cause you emotional anxiety. A horror movie might disturb you with its goriness.
Vocabulary lists containing disturb
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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The Circuit
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"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven"
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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:
The subject is both boring and harrowing, so why disturb the moment?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Under local regulations in the region, "it is forbidden to needlessly disturb, attract or pursue a polar bear", which was declared a protected species in Svalbard in 1972.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
But there is a subtlety here: measurements in quantum physics inevitably disturb the system being measured.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
"It is defended precisely when those opinions disturb or provoke disagreement, provided that they form part of democratic debate, as is the case across all of our media outlets."
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
I didn’t know how to explain Cecile to my great-grandmother and that she wasn’t the type to stop her work or disturb her peace of mind and come because I asked her to.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
When ions move through a crystal lattice in a fluid-like way, their motion temporarily disturbs the lattice symmetry.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026
In early January, the city of San Diego sued the federal government over razor wire placed on its land, saying it constitutes trespassing and disturbs sensitive habitat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
Old Hunter, an ex-police detective now working in private security, disturbs Chen’s depressive apathy with a request that he help find a man called X, a former philosophy professor who ran afoul of authorities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
"It's polite to let them know and apologise in advance if it disturbs them. We'll normally turn the music down by 11 or midnight - or sometimes just invite them to join us."
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
No cock crows there; no watchdog breaks the silence; no branches rustle in the breeze; no clamor of tongues disturbs the peace.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
He’s noticed that wildlife is less disturbed by the quieter vehicles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
I’m more disturbed by the prevalence of subtle synthetic images: AI cooking videos, AI ads with robotic voice-overs, AI celebrity-wedding photos, AI political deepfakes…and the list goes on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The woman was disturbed, but Moraff reportedly played it off as a joke.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026
The company introduced flexible working, fidget toys in meeting rooms, and red or green "busy lights" on desks, that allow staff to indicate whether they're happy to be disturbed.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The sounds of his three hospital roommates and their families disturbed him.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
The findings suggest that some genetic mutations may cause disease not only by changing individual genetic instructions, but also by disturbing the physical arrangement of the genome itself.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Some saw those disturbing images simply by picking up their mobile devices.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Miami authorities on Tuesday night responded to a residence after a disturbing video was posted on social media that appeared to involve celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Sinn Féin councillor Eugene McConnell said that while there may have been valid reasons for the farm animals to be culled, the public way it was carried out was "disturbing".
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
She hoped they might stay groggy for the duration and thus be spared any disturbing encounters with ghosts and the like, but Lady Constance had a different idea.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
