Meanings
comparative more disturbing · superlative most disturbing
- Causing distress or worry; upsetting or unsettling.
His behaviour is very disturbing.
2 more examples
A disturbing film that tries to explore the mind of a serial killer.
I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of disturb
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecausing distress or worry or anxiety
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek ταρακτικός
- ταρακτικός (taraktikós)causing distress or worry
Catalan inquietant, pertorbador
- inquietantcausing distress or worry
- pertorbadorcausing distress or worry
Chinese Mandarin 令人不安的
- 令人不安的 (lìngrén bù'ān de)causing distress or worry
Dutch verontrustend
- verontrustendcausing distress or worry
Esperanto angoriga
- angorigacausing distress or worry
Finnish järkyttävä, häiritsevä
- järkyttäväcausing distress or worry
- häiritseväcausing distress or worry
- levottomuutta herättäväcausing distress or worry
French dérangeant, perturbant
- dérangeantcausing distress or worry
- perturbantcausing distress or worry
German verstörend
- verstörendcausing distress or worry
Greek ενοχλητικός
- ενοχλητικός (enochlitikós)causing distress or worry
Hungarian felkavaró, nyugtalanító
- felkavarócausing distress or worry
- nyugtalanítócausing distress or worry
- aggasztócausing distress or worry
Italian agghiacciate, inquietante
- agghiacciatecausing distress or worry
- inquietantecausing distress or worry
Latin aerumnābilis, anxifer
- aerumnābiliscausing distress or worry
- anxifercausing distress or worry
Polish niepokojący
- niepokojącycausing distress or worry
Russian беспоко́ящий, трево́жащий
- беспоко́ящий (bespokójaščij)causing distress or worry
- трево́жащий (trevóžaščij)causing distress or worry
- трево́жный (trevóžnyj)causing distress or worry
- волну́ющий (volnújuščij)causing distress or worry
Spanish inquietante, perturbador
- inquietantecausing distress or worry
- perturbadorcausing distress or worry
- traumáticocausing distress or worry
- turbiocausing distress or worry
- da yuyucausing distress or worry
Swedish obehaglig
- obehagligcausing distress or worry
Turkish rahatsız edici
- rahatsız edicicausing distress or worry
Ukrainian триво́жний
- триво́жний (tryvóžnyj)causing distress or worry
Cite this entry
disturbing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disturbing
“disturbing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disturbing. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disturbing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disturbing.
Source: disturbing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.