upsetting

adjective

up·​set·​ting (ˌ)əp-ˈse-tiŋ 

: mentally or emotionally troubling or disturbing : causing feelings of worry or anxiety

heard some upsetting news

an upsetting experience

We're up to [a deficit of] $1.5 trillion a year … . These numbers are truly upsetting.

—Bill Gates

Professors issue, or students demand, trigger warnings when presenting material that might be upsetting to some: depictions of rape, sexism, racism, suicide.

—Yvonne Abraham

upsettingly adverb

an upsettingly graphic depiction of violence

In comparison to male historical figures, the number of women that we learn about throughout school is upsettingly low.

—Alexis Gardner

Synonyms of upsetting

• disturbing
• unsettling
• troubling
• frightening

Examples of upsetting in a Sentence

the constant arguing is upsetting to a sensitive person like your grandmother

Recent Examples on the Web

This took an upsetting story about Trump trying to get paid to tweak the stock market with Truth Social and turned it into a chance to go boi-oi-oing. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 24 July 2026

This was upsetting to the Mainers who’d hoped that the people sent to the convention would be impartial. — Elaine Godfrey, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026

Much of the action in Holzinger’s work, especially the body horror, is projected live onto large screens on either side of the stage—common in European theatre, but used here to show what is otherwise hidden, often some kind of upsetting process. — Lauren Oyler, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

The show’s comedy only made its bleakest moments more upsetting and dramatic in contrast, while the drama made the visual gags and slapstick more charming. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for upsetting

• abetting
• begetting
• besetting
• bloodletting
• briquetting
• forgetting
• offsetting
• pipetting
• regretting
• resetting
• subletting
• typesetting