Synonyms of upsetting

upsetting 1 of 2

adjective

(ˌ)əp-ˈse-tiŋ 

as in disturbing

causing worry or anxiety

the constant arguing is upsetting to a sensitive person like your grandmother

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disturbing
• unsettling
• troubling
• frightening
• scary
• troublesome
• distressing
• nasty
• worrisome
• disquieting
• perturbing
• shocking
• horrible
• terrible
• terrifying
• discomforting
• nagging
• discouraging
• troublous
• disconcerting
• dismaying
• disheartening
• demoralizing
• discomposing
• daunting
• dire
• alarming
• fearful
• dreadful
• discomfiting
• dread
• chilling
• direful
• horrifying
• dispiriting
• forbidding
• formidable
• intimidating
• ghastly
• fearsome
• harassing
• horrendous
• frightful
• persecutory
• persecutive
• hair-raising

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• reassuring
• settling
• calming
• soothing
• comforting
• relaxing
• dreamy
• consoling
• sedative
• inviting
• narcotic
• quieting
• tranquilizing
• tranquillizing
• lulling
• pacifying

upsetting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of upset

1

as in alarming

to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy

the smallest things can upset us if we're already stressed

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disturbing
• alarming
• distracting
• bothering
• worrying
• concerning
• unsettling
• angering
• distressing
• agitating
• annoying
• haunting
• discomforting
• disquieting
• dismaying
• perturbing
• plaguing
• irritating
• confusing
• derailing
• embarrassing
• undoing
• unhinging
• ailing
• discomposing
• frazzling
• rattling
• exasperating
• exercising
• aggravating
• distempering
• fussing
• freaking (out)
• bugging
• flurrying
• discouraging
• harassing
• irking
• vexing
• weirding out
• hagriding
• alaruming
• disconcerting
• riling
• galling
• pestering
• nettling
• jarring
• mortifying
• discomfiting
• chivvying
• flustering
• harrying
• disheartening
• unnerving
• fretting
• piquing
• confounding
• grating
• chivying
• chafing
• peeving
• bedeviling
• daunting
• demoralizing
• getting
• dispiriting
• putting off
• putting out
• discountenancing
• fazing
• abashing
• nonplussing
• shaking up
• nonplusing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• calming
• soothing
• quieting
• settling
• composing
• tranquilizing
• alleviating
• allaying
• assuaging
• tranquillizing
• pacifying
• appeasing
• placating
• mollifying
• conciliating
• propitiating

2

as in overturning

to turn on one's side or upside down

the narrow boat upsets easily and should be handled with care

Synonyms & Similar Words

• overturning
• capsizing
• collapsing
• falling
• keeling
• turning over
• toppling
• upending
• tilting
• tipping
• inverting
• turning turtle
• overthrowing
• leaning
• listing
• oversetting
• careening
• heeling
• tumping (over)
• pitchpoling
• giving
• foundering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• righting
• raising
• standing up
• straightening (up)
• erecting

3

as in disrupting

to undo the proper order or arrangement of

the change in the bus schedule upset our daily routine

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disrupting
• confusing
• disturbing
• shuffling
• disorganizing
• disarranging
• dislocating
• scrambling
• jumbling
• disordering
• muddling
• deranging
• mixing (up)
• tousling
• mussing
• snarling
• tumbling
• dishevelling
• disarraying
• hashing
• unsettling
• disjointing
• disheveling
• discomposing
• tangling
• perturbing
• messing (up)
• rumpling
• embroiling
• stirring (up)
• cluttering
• entangling
• agitating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• regulating
• disposing
• ordering
• organizing
• arranging
• ranging
• straightening (up)
• tidying
• adjusting
• aligning
• drawing up
• classifying
• lining
• marshalling
• marshaling
• arraying
• queueing
• queuing
• lining up
• systematizing
• alining
• fixing
• codifying
• grooming
• making up
• methodizing
• systemizing
• sprucing (up)
• unscrambling

Examples of upsetting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Also coursing through the report are worries about China’s grander geopolitical intentions and fears about upsetting Nepal’s powerful neighbor. —New York Times, 11 Oct. 2024

It can be used to modify unpleasant memories (‘flashbacks’) or upsetting future imaginings (‘flashforwards’). —New Atlas, 8 Oct. 2024

What is comforting to one person may be upsetting to another. —Matthew Schnipper, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2024

One of his political allies who sits on an advisory board to the Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education — which had funded the program since 2021 — reportedly told fellow members that Wegner had urged him to reject this year’s grant application to avoid upsetting the Japanese government. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024