unrest
Americannoun
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lack of rest; a restless, troubled, or uneasy state; disquiet.
the unrest within himself.
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disturbance or turmoil; agitation.
political unrest.
- Synonyms:
- turbulence, discord, ferment
noun
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a troubled or rebellious state of discontent
-
an uneasy or troubled state
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unrest
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at un- 1, rest 1
Explanation
Unrest is an uneasy, agitated, or disturbed condition. Strikes and public protests are often part of social and political unrest. There's a personal, small-scale kind of unrest, like the unrest caused at a birthday party by one extremely unhappy child, or the unrest that results from a class clown's practical jokes. Then there's the societal unrest that results in angry public demonstrations. Unsafe working conditions might lead to unrest among laborers, and a government's authoritarian rule often results in unrest too, with citizens marching in the streets.
Vocabulary lists containing unrest
Lesson 4
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 26–December 2, 2022
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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.
"Unrest and discontent, especially if sustained, is something that Beijing and Islamabad could try to exploit," says Michael Kugelman, director of Washington-based think-tank South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2024
Unrest and instability in Congo, Africa’s second-largest country by area and fourth by population, routinely lead to disruptions and conflict with its eight bordering countries as the U.S.,
From Washington Times • Dec. 18, 2023
Unrest has hit county vote counts in the past.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2023
Before that, it was long Lyme disease or chronic fatigue syndrome, as Jennifer Brea’s 2017 documentary Unrest movingly shows.
From Scientific American • Sep. 19, 2023
For New York City’s millions of readers of the downtown papers, it was, at that time, another one of the periodic “Racial Unrest in Harlem” stories.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
