disrupt

verb

dis·​rupt dis-ˈrəpt 

disrupted; disrupting; disrupts

transitive verb

1

a

: to break apart : rupture

three periods of faulting disrupted the rocks

—University of Arizona Record

b

: to throw into disorder

demonstrators trying to disrupt the meeting

2

a

: to interrupt the normal course or unity of

… disrupted a bridge game by permanently hiding up the ace of spades …

—Scott Fitzgerald

b

business : to cause upheaval in (an industry, market, etc.)

The banking industry, on the other hand, is being disrupted by a breakdown of the model of paying money on deposits and taking interest on loans.

—Cromwell Schubarth

specifically : to successfully challenge (established businesses, products, or services) by using an innovation (such as a new technology or business model) to gain a foothold in a marginal or new segment of the market and then fundamentally changing the nature of the market

In contrast, the digital technologies that allowed personal computers to disrupt minicomputers improved much more quickly; Compaq was able to increase revenue more than tenfold and reach parity with the industry leader, DEC, in only 12 years.

—Clayton M. Christensen et al.

… this innovative service that might disrupt the industry comes at the low end of the product/service/technology, a place where these high-end consumers have neither interest nor experience. This low-end attack, which initially does not attract much attention, might grow to be a high quality service that supplants the incumbent.

—Eitan Muller

disrupter noun

or less commonly disruptor

Synonyms

• break
• break up
• bust
• disintegrate
• dismember
• fracture
• fragment
• rive

Example Sentences

The barking dogs disrupted my sleep.

The weather disrupted our travel plans.

a chemical that disrupts cell function

Recent Examples on the Web

Spiegel says an extra stretchy mesentery could disrupt the structure of the gut. —Monique Brouillette, Popular Mechanics, 19 Jan. 2023

And the Tribunal offers a glimpse of how a community can come together to adjudicate on how to deal with people who disrupt the community. —WIRED, 19 Jan. 2023

That in turn can disrupt corporate bond issuers who use government bond yields as a benchmark, officials and economists say. —Megumi Fujikawa, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2023

Authorities don’t anticipate that the investigation will disrupt activities at the Clar Kerr Campus. —Summer Linstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2023

But just as damaging factors can disrupt the epigenome, healthy behaviors can repair it, Sinclair said. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 12 Jan. 2023

Dallas won’t have the chance to even get to Brady or disrupt his throws unless he is forced to hold onto the ball. —Nick Kehoe, Dallas News, 12 Jan. 2023

The decision by Xi's government to end controls that shut down factories and kept millions of people at home will move up the timeline for economic recovery but might disrupt activity this year as businesses scramble to adapt, forecasters say. —Ken Moritsugu, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Jan. 2023

But there’s no reason to believe that their more reasonable colleagues—to the extent that descriptor fits—would go along with any potential speaker who would either garner Democratic support or disrupt the party’s ambitions. —Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Latin disruptus, past participle of disrumpere, from dis- + rumpere to break — more at reave

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

disrupt

verb

dis·​rupt dis-ˈrəpt 

: to throw into disorder

disrupted the class

disrupter noun

disruption

-ˈrəp-shən 

noun

disruptive

-ˈrəp-tiv 

adjective

disruptively adverb

disruptiveness noun