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

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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
On a national scale, these buildings do not use an alarming amount of water. — Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026 That warnings from front-line salespeople took so long to bubble up to senior management, and out to stockholders, is also alarming. — Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 14 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
  • View gallery - 5 images What sounds more terrifying than a part-cockroach, part-robot cyborg?
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 18 July 2026
  • One of the most terrifying aspects of being a teen is the continuous change.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 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
  • At the beginning of the year, Grok sparked outrage for being used to generate millions of conconsensual nudes of real people, including children, disturbing some employees, according to Bloomberg.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 16 July 2026
  • And people are increasingly good at disturbing things, through means like suburbanization.
    — Meg Tirrell, CNN Money, 14 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
  • The young Brits' last year in secondary school finds Charlie starting a pride club, Nick worrying about an uncertain future, and both considering the impact of long-distance love.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 17 July 2026
  • Because vacation is about decompressing and disconnecting from daily life—not about worrying what’s going on at home.
    — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 July 2026
Definition of worrying
Adjective
  • In the $200,000 San Clemente Handicap 35-1 longshot Somerset West (Armando Ayuso) outran nine other 3-year-old fillies, including three formidable challengers who shipped in from the east.
    — Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2026
  • Ohtani spearheads the game’s most formidable hypothetical October rotation.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 18 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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Cite this Entry

“Alarming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alarming. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of alarming for Spanish Speakers

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