alarming 1 of 2

adjective

ə-ˈlär-miŋ How to pronounce alarming (audio)
Definition of alarmingnext
as in terrifying
causing fear an alarming rise in her fever, causing the doctor to fear the worst

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

alarming

2 of 2

verb

variants also alaruming
present participle of alarm
1
as in frightening
to strike with fear I don't want to alarm you, but I think you should know there's a bear on your back porch

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disturbing
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy alarmed at the skyrocketing cost of home heating fuel

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of alarming
Adjective
Despite no detection by Northwest ISD, Miley’s screening results were alarming. — Samuel O’Neal 22, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 July 2026 The company has been burning through cash at an alarming rate despite seeing sales and revenues jump. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 22 July 2026
Verb
For Denver residents like Marisa Saturni-Johnson, the sirens were alarming enough to send her family into shelter. — Sarah Horbacewicz, CBS News, 10 June 2026 The institution has resisted placing it under glass or alarming it in order to allow visitors as unrestricted a viewing experience as possible. — News Desk, Artforum, 9 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for alarming
Recent Examples of Synonyms for alarming
  1. terrifying
  2. frightening
  3. disturbing
  4. scary
  5. startling
  6. worrying
  7. formidable
  8. scaring
Adjective
  • Set thousands of years in the future, the Blight has wiped out most of civilization, and while the name sounds gruesome and terrifying, the Blight itself is verdant and filled with flowers.
    — Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • The trailer shows Depp as Scrooge tormented by the terrifying spirits of Christmas, haunting him throughout the Christmas season.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 23 July 2026
Definition of terrifying
Verb
  • Powell tried to open the stall door, and then began fondling himself, frightening the 11-year-old, who tried to leave, but Powell blocked him from getting out.
    — Todd Feurer, CBS News, 6 June 2026
  • This war has been a disaster for them, frightening away foreign investors, tourists and talent and burdening them with a future of huge new defense bills to deter Iran after the United States is gone.
    — Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 15 May 2026
Definition of frightening
Verb
  • Plus, Bluetooth headphone pairing lets students watch TV late at night without disturbing roommates.
    — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 22 July 2026
  • Just like us, most plants suffer from heat stress that is exacerbated by disturbing their vascular system during a heat wave.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 17 July 2026
Definition of disturbing
Adjective
  • Penned by Aguirre-Sacasa based on the Archie Comics characters, Afterlife with Archie turns the all-American town of Riverdale into a zombie-overrun apocalypse — where the only thing scarier than the undead is trying to survive your teenage years.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 20 July 2026
  • Scary allegations are not the whole story If voters listened to Trump’s speech without the benefits of fact-checkers or even Google, things sound really, really scary.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 17 July 2026
Definition of scary
Verb
  • Cortlandt Koerwitz/Instagram A family's Fourth of July outing took a frightening turn when a bear charged at a father outside his Lake Tahoe vacation home after startling his daughters.
    — Shafiq Najib, ABC News, 9 July 2026
  • Some cyclists sped by pretty quickly, startling us and our dog.
    — Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026
Definition of startling
Verb
  • Jensen Huang is urging Washington to stop worrying about China’s open-source AI just as an all-out panic has broken out over the highly capable, low-cost models that can increasingly compete with the most advanced products by OpenAI and Anthropic.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 22 July 2026
  • The ceiling gets reviewed regularly and removed once the Bank stops worrying about what a fast-growing coin would do to bank credit.
    — Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of worrying
Adjective
  • Ulf has Silverwing and Hugh rides Vermithor, both formidable beasts.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • The three formed a formidable frontcourt that could score, pass and defend.
    — Rob Peterson, New York Times, 26 July 2026
Definition of formidable
Verb
  • For the past 18 months, soaring brisket and rib prices have forced Pig-Sty BBQ in Boynton Beach to walk a pricing tightrope, covering expenses without scaring away customers.
    — Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 16 July 2026
  • In an article for Marie Claire, Rapinoe trotted out several common left-wing talking points aimed at scaring rational-thinking people into believing that keeping males out of women's sports is somehow bad for girls and women.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 July 2026
Definition of scaring

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alarming
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Cite this Entry

“Alarming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alarming. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on alarming

Nglish: Translation of alarming for Spanish Speakers

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