Meanings
plural disturbances · alternative obsolete disturbaunce
- countableuncountableThe act of disturbing, being disturbed.
- countableuncountableSomething that disturbs.
That guy causes a lot of trouble, you know, he’s such a disturbance.
- countableuncountableAn interruption of that which is normal or regular.
Blue No. 1 and yellow No. 6 may also be toxic to some human cells. And as little as 1 milligram of yellow dye No. 5 may cause irritability, restlessness and sleep disturbances for sensitive children.
2025 March 29, Kristen Rogers, “Over half of US states are trying to eliminate food dyes. Here’s what you can do now”, in CNN1 more example
Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.
2012 January 28, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2012, page 70
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA noisy commotion that causes a hubbub or interruption.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna disorderly outburst or tumult
noun(psychiatry) a psychological disorder of thought or emotion; a more neutral term than mental illness
nounelectrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindisturbō
- Old Frenchdestorbance
- Middle Englishdisturbaunce
- Englishdisturbance
From Middle English disturbaunce, from Old French destorbance, destourbance, from destourber (“disturb”), from Latin disturbō. By surface analysis, disturb + -ance.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄραδος, ταραχή
- ἄραδος (árados)act of disturbing, being disturbed
- ταραχή (tarakhḗ)a noisy commotion
Bengali জ্বালাতন
- জ্বালাতন (jalaton)something that disturbs
Bulgarian смущение, смут
- смущение (smuštenie)act of disturbing, being disturbed
- смут (smut)act of disturbing, being disturbed
- безредие (bezredie)interruption of that which is normal or regular
- бъротия (bărotija)interruption of that which is normal or regular
Catalan pertorbació, destorb
- pertorbacióact of disturbing, being disturbed
- destorbact of disturbing, being disturbed
Czech rušení, výtržník
- rušeníact of disturbing, being disturbed
- výtržníksomething that disturbs
- narušeníinterruption of that which is normal or regular
- vyrušeníinterruption of that which is normal or regular
- duševní porucha(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Danish forstyrrelse, forstyrrelse
- forstyrrelseact of disturbing, being disturbed
- forstyrrelsesomething that disturbs
Dutch storing, verstoring
- storingact of disturbing, being disturbed
- verstoringact of disturbing, being disturbed
Esperanto perturbo
- perturboact of disturbing, being disturbed
Finnish häirintä, häiritseminen
- häirintäact of disturbing, being disturbed
- häiritseminenact of disturbing, being disturbed
- häirikkösomething that disturbs
- häiriöinterruption of that which is normal or regular
- häiriö(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
French trouble, tapage
- troubleact of disturbing, being disturbed
- tapageact of disturbing, being disturbed
German Störung, Störenfried
- Störungact of disturbing, being disturbed
- Störenfriedsomething that disturbs
- Störunginterruption of that which is normal or regular
- Störung(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
- Geistesstörung(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Hebrew הפרעה
- הפרעה (hafra'a)act of disturbing, being disturbed
Hindi हुड़दंग
- हुड़दंग (huṛdaṅg)a noisy commotion
Irish suaitheadh, suaitheadh intinne
- suaitheadhact of disturbing, being disturbed
- suaitheadh intinne(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Japanese 動乱, 動揺
- 動乱 (dōran)act of disturbing, being disturbed
- 動揺 (dōyō)act of disturbing, being disturbed
- 混乱 (konran)interruption of that which is normal or regular
Latin turba
- turbaa noisy commotion
Māori āheihei, ngangau
- āheiheisomething that disturbs
- ngangausomething that disturbs
- rarīsomething that disturbs
- rawehoisomething that disturbs
- raweoisomething that disturbs
- ngarisomething that disturbs
- tautea noisy commotion
- ngangaua noisy commotion
- āheiheia noisy commotion
- heiheia noisy commotion
- manioroa noisy commotion
- rarīa noisy commotion
Norwegian Bokmål forstyrrelse, forstyrrelse
- forstyrrelseact of disturbing, being disturbed
- forstyrrelsesomething that disturbs
Portuguese estorvo, perturbação
- estorvoact of disturbing, being disturbed
- perturbaçãoact of disturbing, being disturbed
- estorvosomething that disturbs
- perturbaçãosomething that disturbs
- perturbaçãointerruption of that which is normal or regular
- distúrbio(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
- transtorno(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Romanian deranjare, tulburare
- deranjareact of disturbing, being disturbed
- tulburareact of disturbing, being disturbed
- perturbareact of disturbing, being disturbed
- deranjsomething that disturbs
- încomodaresomething that disturbs
- perturbareinterruption of that which is normal or regular
- perturbațieinterruption of that which is normal or regular
- deranjamentinterruption of that which is normal or regular
- tulburare(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
- perturbație(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Russian беспоря́дки, волне́ния
- беспоря́дки (besporjádki)act of disturbing, being disturbed
- волне́ния (volnénija)act of disturbing, being disturbed
- наруши́тель (narušítelʹ)something that disturbs
- наруши́тельница (narušítelʹnica)something that disturbs
- расстро́йство (rasstrójstvo)interruption of that which is normal or regular
- наруше́ние (narušénije)interruption of that which is normal or regular
- расстро́йство (rasstrójstvo)(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Scottish Gaelic aimhreit, atharrachadh
- aimhreitact of disturbing, being disturbed
- atharrachadhinterruption of that which is normal or regular
Spanish disturbio, estorbo
- disturbioact of disturbing, being disturbed
- estorboact of disturbing, being disturbed
- perturbaciónact of disturbing, being disturbed
- estorbosomething that disturbs
- perturbaciónsomething that disturbs
- perturbacióninterruption of that which is normal or regular
- perturbación(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
- trastorno(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Swahili utundu
- utunduact of disturbing, being disturbed
Swedish störning, störning
- störningact of disturbing, being disturbed
- störningsomething that disturbs
- avbrottinterruption of that which is normal or regular
- störninginterruption of that which is normal or regular
- rubbning(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
- störning(psychology) serious mental imbalance or illness
Welsh aflonyddwch
- aflonyddwchact of disturbing, being disturbed
Cite this entry
disturbance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disturbance
“disturbance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disturbance. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disturbance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disturbance.
Source: disturbance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.