disquiet
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
disquiets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disquieted,
past participle, past
-
disquieting
present participle
adjective
noun
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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disquietednessnoun
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disquietingadjective
-
undisquietedadjective
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disquietedlyadverb
-
disquietinglyadverb
-
disquietlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disquietsimple
-
disquietssimple
-
have disquietedperfect
-
has disquietedperfect
-
am disquietingprogressive
-
are disquietingprogressive
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is disquietingprogressive
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have been disquietingperfect progressive
-
has been disquietingperfect progressive
Past
-
disquietedsimple
-
had disquietedperfect
-
was disquietingprogressive
-
were disquietingprogressive
-
had been disquietingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disquiet
First recorded in 1520–30; dis- 1 + quiet in the sense “freedom from disturbance or tumult”
Explanation
If you feel a sense of disquiet, you're worried or anxious about something. Disquiet at the dinner table means that everyone feels upset or on edge. You can use the word disquiet as a noun or a verb. A feeling of disquiet might fill you as you walk slowly through a truly spooky haunted house. You can also say that a low, frightening sound coming from the room ahead disquiets you. The word dates from the 1500s, a combination of dis, "lack of" or "not" in Latin, and quiet, from the Latin root quietus, "calm, at rest, or free from exertion."
Vocabulary lists containing disquiet
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Don't Panic! Synonyms for "Stress"
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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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:
It's fair to say this is causing some disquiet in the paddock, even if few - if any - are voicing it publicly.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
U.S. stock futures point to small losses while markets in Europe and Asia were largely in positive territory amid AI fever versus Mideast disquiet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
But to outside observers and former military officials, they signal “a troubling disquiet within the ranks.”
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
The report had caused disquiet in South Korea, where the system is a pillar of national defense against nuclear-armed North Korea.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
Yet bonds of friendship, colleagueship, and shared travail in the bomb project made it difficult for Lawrence to dismiss Oppenheimer’s disquiet entirely.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Cromwell identifies: “I have travelled so far to get here, and nothing they do disturbs me now, nor disquiets me, high on my branch.”
From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2020
The Second Half, which is due in the autumn, is billed as a blend of "memoir and motivational writing in a manner which both disquiets and reassures, in Roy Keane's own original voice".
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2014
"Monseigneur, the silence you keep every now and then disquiets me."
From The Queen's Necklace by Alexandre Dumas père
The slightest change disturbs and disquiets him; he would like to see stillness reigning everywhere.
From Émile or, Concerning Education; Extracts by Jules Steeg
She is noisy where quiet is needful; she causes disturbance where there should be peace; and she disquiets where she should soothe.
From The Reconstructed School by Francis B. Pearson
The vast fortunes created by men such as Ford have long disquieted many intellectuals and journalists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
Despite her decades of work in front of the camera, she's still disquieted by horror films.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2025
David also was disquieted by his brother’s familiarity with the places that had been targeted by the Unabomber.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2023
How strange that the Under the Radar festival chose otherwise for the finish to a triptych structured like the industry’s shutdown and return: lonely isolation, cautious distance, disquieted reunion.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
White fur and red eyes, Jon realized, disquieted.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Others see a dilettante who benefited from family money as he moved through his 20s and 30s, all while creating a cache of disquieting social-media posts that have become fodder for his opponents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
The concept came about in 2019, when anonymous users on message board 4chan were asked to "post disquieting images that just feel 'off'."
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
It was those influencers I found most disquieting during my time in Tucson.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
A disquieting collection of animatronics became fixtures in the director’s life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
