Meanings
comparative more disquieting · superlative most disquieting
- Causing mental trouble or anguish; upsetting; making uneasy.
The reality, however, is a disquieting and entirely white town, littered with old apartheid flags and monuments to the architects of segregation.
2019 October 24, Dennis Webster, “'An indictment of South Africa': whites-only town Orania is booming”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 29 Mar 20223 more examples
It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.
1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLCThe guard was paying no attention whatever to the running of his train, in total disregard of rules, and, as the recently-published report of a Ministry of Transport Inspecting Officer of Railways shows, there were other disquieting features in the case, such as ignorance on the part of responsible men of rules and appendix instructions and a lax attitude to regulations of which they professed to be aware, combined with failure to look at staff notice boards.
1956 September, “Notes and News: The Barby Sidings Accident Report”, in Railway Magazine, page 638Sir, it is very disquieting to read from time to time that some of our citizens, who should be promoting the welfare of this country in their hearts and in practice, are taking the currency out of this country illegally. It is equally disquieting to hear that some of our citizens may export some of the goods from this country, undervalue those goods and when they import some goods from abroad, they are over-valued with the object of keeping part of that money outside this country.
1985 May 29, W. Kisiero (Assistant Minister for Commerce and Industry), “The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill (The Attorney-General on 23rd May, 1985) (Resumption of Debate Interrupted on 28th May, 1985)”, in The Republic of Kenya: The National Assembly Official Report … Third Session: Tuesday, 19th March, 1985 to Thursday, 6th June, 1985, volume LXV, [Nairobi?]: National Assembly of Kenya, →OCLC, column 1561
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of disquiet.
plural disquietings
- The act by which someone or something is disquieted.
Thus we see the intuition of divine truth in minds of defiled affections, worketh not that sweet effect which is natural unto it to produce; but doubtings, terrors, and disquietings of conscience […]
1640, Edward Reynolds, A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soule of man
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecausing mental discomfort
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
- Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
- Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
- Proto-Italic*dis-
- Latindis-
- Old Frenchdes-
- Latindis-
- Middle Englishdis-
- Englishdis-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷyeh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷyéh₁tis
- Proto-Italic*kʷjētis
- Latinquiēs
- Latinquiēscō
- Latinquiētus
- Frenchquiet
- Middle Englishquiete
- Englishquiet
- Englishdisquiet
- Englishdisquieting
Translations
Esperanto maltrankviliga
- maltrankviligaCausing mental trouble
German beunruhigend, verstörend
- beunruhigendCausing mental trouble
- verstörendCausing mental trouble
- besorgniserregendCausing mental trouble
Latin anxifer
- anxiferCausing mental trouble
Polish niepokojący, zatrważający
- niepokojącyCausing mental trouble
- zatrważającyCausing mental trouble
- niepokojenieact which disquiets
Spanish preocupante
- preocupanteCausing mental trouble
Cite this entry
disquieting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disquieting
“disquieting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disquieting. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disquieting,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disquieting.
Source: disquieting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.