disturbing

adjective

dis·​turb·​ing di-ˈstər-biŋ 

: causing feelings of worry, concern, or anxiety

disturbing news

a disturbing discovery

The next phase in which I had a part was even more disturbing, and infinitely more painful.

—Bram Stoker

disturbingly

di-ˈstər-biŋ-lē 

adverb

disturbingly high levels of pollution

a disturbingly familiar problem

… the texture of ordinary life and talk has taken on a disturbingly ambiguous quality …

—Jonathan Raban

Synonyms

• abrasive
• aggravating
• annoying
• bothersome
• carking
• chafing
• exasperating
• frustrating
• galling
• irksome
• irritating
• maddening
• nettlesome
• nettling
• peeving
• pesky
• pestiferous
• pestilent
• pestilential
• pesty
• plaguey
• plaguy
• rankling
• rebarbative
• riling
• vexatious
• vexing

Examples of disturbing in a Sentence

a disturbing visit by the next-door neighbor while I was trying to study

there was a disturbing silence as I struggled to remember her name

a disturbing trend in the nation's energy consumption

a disturbing pause in the normally smooth operation of the machinery

Recent Examples on the Web

One of the more disturbing results was from the dinner party at the Brooklyn apartment of my ProPublica colleague. —Topher Sanders, ProPublica, 9 Dec. 2024

Duchamp spent the last twenty years of his life working in secret on a three-dimensional tableau vivant of a naked, headless female body in a realistic landscape, a strangely disturbing image that is both a summary of his meta-retinal art and a total departure from it. —Calvin Tomkins, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024

That hint of cognitive dissonance makes the film almost nauseatingly gripping, and disturbing. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024

Thornburg's conviction and sentence mark a significant chapter in one of Fort Worth's most disturbing murder cases in recent years. —Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined above