Meanings
present singular third person disorientates · participle present disorientating · participle past disorientated · past disorientated
- UKalternativeproscribedsometimesAlternative form of disorient.
Ideas often disorientate a system which has been formed on a particular pattern and make it inapplicable; so ideas may lead to the readjustment of groups and sometimes of political boundaries.
1941, Frederic William Eggleston, Search for a Social Philosophy, page 254
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From dis- + orientate. Not a back-formation from disorientation, which is attested much later and is perhaps from disorientate.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
disorientate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disorientate
“disorientate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disorientate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disorientate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disorientate.
Source: disorientate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.