disrupt

verb

dis·​rupt dis-ˈrəpt 

disrupted; disrupting; disrupts

transitive verb

1

a

: to break apart : rupture

three periods of faulting disrupted the rocks

—University of Arizona Record

b

: to throw into disorder

demonstrators trying to disrupt the meeting

2

a

: to interrupt the normal course or unity of

… disrupted a bridge game by permanently hiding up the ace of spades …

—Scott Fitzgerald

b

business : to cause upheaval in (an industry, market, etc.)

The banking industry, on the other hand, is being disrupted by a breakdown of the model of paying money on deposits and taking interest on loans.

—Cromwell Schubarth

specifically : to successfully challenge (established businesses, products, or services) by using an innovation (such as a new technology or business model) to gain a foothold in a marginal or new segment of the market and then fundamentally changing the nature of the market

In contrast, the digital technologies that allowed personal computers to disrupt minicomputers improved much more quickly; Compaq was able to increase revenue more than tenfold and reach parity with the industry leader, DEC, in only 12 years.

—Clayton M. Christensen et al.

… this innovative service that might disrupt the industry comes at the low end of the product/service/technology, a place where these high-end consumers have neither interest nor experience. This low-end attack, which initially does not attract much attention, might grow to be a high quality service that supplants the incumbent.

—Eitan Muller

disrupter noun

or less commonly disruptor

Synonyms

• break
• break up
• bust
• disintegrate
• dismember
• fracture
• fragment
• rive

Examples of disrupt in a Sentence

The barking dogs disrupted my sleep.

The weather disrupted our travel plans.

a chemical that disrupts cell function

Recent Examples on the Web

The pair meet after the guy picks up a prescription for an extremely gnarly black eye, setting off a whirlwind romance that’s inevitably disrupted by — what else? — a grumpy parent. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2025

The occurrence of any of these events disrupts the global supply chain and can deeply impact profitability. —Steve Banker, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025

Once inhaled, VOCs can mimic the activity of hormones, disrupting the endocrine system. —Matt Fuchs, TIME, 21 Feb. 2025

Canal authorities were forced to reduce the transits from a typical 36 a day to 24, disrupting global supply chains. —Laura Paddison, CNN, 21 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin disruptus, past participle of disrumpere, from dis- + rumpere to break — more at reave

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

disrupt

verb

dis·​rupt dis-ˈrəpt 

: to throw into disorder

disrupted the class

disrupter noun

disruption

-ˈrəp-shən 

noun

disruptive

-ˈrəp-tiv 

adjective

disruptively adverb

disruptiveness noun