Meanings
present singular third person perturbs · participle present perturbing · participle past perturbed · past perturbed · first person past singular perturbed · archaic present second person singular perturbest · past second person singular perturbed · archaic past second person singular perturbedst · present singular third person perturbs · archaic present singular third person perturbeth · past singular third person perturbed · past plural perturbed · past subjunctive perturbed · participle present perturbing · participle past perturbed
- transitiveTo cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed; to cause confusion.
[T]hou perturbest my place; / Takest from me the country of my forefathers; […]
1881, Abū Muẖammad bin Yusuf bin Mu,ayyid-i-Niz̤āmu-’d-Dīn [i.e., Nizami Ganjavi], “Canto XXVIII. Sikandar’s Written Reply to Dara.”, in H[enry] Wilberforce Clarke, transl., The Sikandar Nāma,e Barȧ, or Book of Alexander the Great, […], London: W[illiam] H[oughton] Allen & Co., […], →OCLC, page 313, line 674 more examples
Mary therefore the more knaue art thou I ſay / That perturbeſt the worde of god I ſay […]
a. 1521 (date written), [John Heywood], A Mery Play betwene the Pardoner and the Frere, the Curate and Neybour Pratte, London: […] Wyllyam Rastell, published 15 April 1533 (Gregorian calendar), →OCLC, signature B.i., rectoThe Nobles ſtandyng by hearyng him thus ſpeake were greatly agreeued with him, notyng in him arrogancy and wilfulneſſe, in perturbyng and refuſyng ſuch an honeſt order of agreement: […]
1569, Richard Grafton, “Henry the Seconde”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 69[T]he grounds and firſt inventions of Poeticall fables, […] vvere alſo taken up by hiſtoricall VVriters, perturbing the Chaldean and Ægyptian Records vvith fabulous additions, and confounding their names and ſtories, vvith their ovvne inventions.
1646, Thomas Browne, “Concerning the Vulgar Opinion that the Earth was Slenderly Peopled before the Floud”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 6th book, page 295If it [benign matter] be as yet ſeated in the Lymph, and ſcarce got in among the Globules, it vvill notvvithſtanding provoke, and perturb the vital Spirits, and ſo exagitate them as to ſtir up an Efferveſcence, vvhich ceaſeth again as ſoon as the Matter can be concocted and throvvn out by inſenſible Tranſpiration, Svveat, Urine, Stools, &c.
1730, Thomas Fuller, “Of Continual Fevers, Caused by Matter Taken into the Blood ab extra”, in Exanthematologia: Or, An Attempt to Give a Rational Account of Eruptive Fevers, Especially of the Measles and Small Pox. […], London: […] Charles Rivington, and Stephen Austen, […], →OCLC, pages 114–115Synonyms: derange, disturb, unsettle, addle, baffle, vex, lose, embroil
- transitiveTo disturb (someone, their mind, etc.) mentally; to bother, trouble, upset.
He remembered how, […] his childish imagination was perturbed at a phenomenon, for which he could not account.
1826, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 1463 more examples
[…] I have often found / The truth thereof, in my private paſſions: / For I doe never feele my ſelfe perturb'd / VVith any generall vvords 'gainſt my profeſſion, / They doe avvake, and ſtirre me: […]
1632 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 10[I]t is very easy to abstain from this sin [the desire of money]. For here it is not any natural desire that perturbeth the mind, but it ariseth from wilful negligence.
1848, John Chrysostom, “Homily XXIII. 2 Cor[inthians] xi. 1.”, in J. Ashworth, transl., edited by J. F. Christie, The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the Second Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. […] (A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, anterior to the Divison of the East and West), Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Henry Parker; London: F[rancis] and J[ohn] Rivington, →OCLC, page 269"Did he seem to you much perturbed?" / "Mr. Gibson is a very strong, self-contained man. I do not think that he would ever show his emotions on the surface. But I, who knew him so well, could see that he was deeply concerned."
1922 February–March, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Problem of Thor Bridge”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published June 1927, →OCLC, page 198Synonyms: agitate, distress, unsettle, agitate, freak, sting, bother, bring down · Antonyms: besoothe, cheer, comfort, console, solace, soothe
- transitiveastronomyOf a celestial body: to modify the motion or orbit of (another celestial body) by exerting a gravitational force; hence (physics), to slightly modify (the motion of an object).
- intransitiveTo bother, to disturb, to trouble.
Thy ghoſt O father ſweete, thy greuous ghoſt, / Perturbing in my dremes hath me compeld to ſee this coaſt.
1557 August 23 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Virgil, “The Syxt Booke”, in Thomas Phaer, transl., The Seuen First Bookes of the Eneidos of Virgill, Conuerted in Englishe Meter […], London: […] Ihon Kyngston, for Richard Jugge, […], published 7 June 1558 (Gregorian calendar), →OCLC, signature [R.iij.], recto1 more example
This growth original of virgin soil, / By fascination felt in opposites, / Pleases and shocks, entices and perturbs.
1869 December (indicated as 1870 January), James Russell Lowell, “The Cathedral”, in James Thomas Fields, editor, The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume XXV, number CXLVII, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 11–12Synonyms: agitate
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed; to cause confusion.
verbTo disturb (someone, their mind, etc.) mentally; to bother, trouble, upset.
verbTo bother, to disturb, to trouble.
More synonyms by meaning
verbdisturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)twerH-“to agitate, stir up; to urge on, propel”
- Pre-Greek
- Ancient Greekτῠ́ρβη“confusion, disorder, tumult”
- Latinperturbāre
- Old Frenchperturber
- Middle Englishperturben“to disturb (someone) mentally, disquiet; to cause disorder to (something), confuse; to hinder (something)”
- Englishperturb
From Late Middle English perturben (“to disturb (someone) mentally, disquiet; to cause disorder to (something), confuse; to hinder (something)”), from Old French perturber, and from its etymon Latin perturbāre, the present active infinitive of perturbō (“to confuse; to alarm, disturb, trouble, perturb”), from per- (intensifying prefix) + turbō (“to agitate, disturb, unsettle, perturb; to upset”) (from turba (“disorder, disturbance, turmoil”) (possibly from Ancient Greek τῠ́ρβη (tŭ́rbē, “confusion, disorder, tumult”), either from Pre-Greek, or Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to urge on, propel”)) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of regular first-conjugation verbs)).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian смущавам
- смущавам (smuštavam)(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
Chinese Mandarin 打擾 /打扰
- 打擾 /打扰 (dǎrǎo)(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
Dutch verstoren
- verstoren(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
Finnish häiritä, häiritä
- häiritä(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
- häiritä(transitive) of a celestial body: to modify the motion or orbit of (another celestial body) by exerting a gravitational force; to slightly modify (the motion of an object)
- häiritä(transitive) to slightly modify (a set of equations or their solutions), producing deviations from a simple, easily solvable problem
- häiritä(transitive) to influence (a process or system) so that it deviates from its normal state
Irish buair
- buair(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
Norwegian Bokmål forurolige, gjøre forstyrret
- forurolige(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
- gjøre forstyrret(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
- ryste(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
- skake (opp)(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
- vekke uro(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
Persian ناراحت کردن
- ناراحت کردن (nârâhat kardan)(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
Spanish perturbar, conturbar
- perturbar(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
- conturbar(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
- desatentar(transitive) to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with perturb
All rhymes →Cite this entry
perturb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perturb
“perturb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perturb. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “perturb,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perturb.
Source: perturb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.