unsettle
verb (used with object)
to alter from a settled state; cause to be no longer firmly fixed or established; render unstable; disturb.
was unsettling
-
past progressiveof unsettle.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
The portrait was unsettling, a little too familiar.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
To his peers, Newman’s purity was unsettling and his transition from criticism to painting, an affront.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
I was confident I was being scammed in some way but the idiomatic language and contextual knowledge of Westminster was unsettling.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2024
The silence in my home, after that, was unsettling: no scritch-scratching of claws on hardwood floors or chomping of kibble in the background as I pecked away at my keyboard writing articles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
The sadness in her husband’s eyes was unsettling to her.
From "In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse" by Joseph Marshall III
