as in terrifying
causing fear
an alarming rise in her fever, causing the doctor to fear the worst
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also alaruming
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disturbing
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy
alarmed at the skyrocketing cost of home heating fuel
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 19 Apr. 2026
From a business and customer perspective, that conclusion is alarming.
—Chris Cate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Michael Santoli, CNBC, 5 Jan. 2026
China’s increasingly advanced military capabilities are alarming the West and reshaping the global balance of naval power, analysts said.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for alarming
Adjective
The alarming statement followed Gross’s estimation that the risk of a nuclear war was increasing from 1 percent per year to about 2 percent annually.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 19 Apr. 2026
From a business and customer perspective, that conclusion is alarming.
—Chris Cate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Verb
While a small sample size, the historical record for what happens after the S & P 500 has a down month after a seven-month win streak is more reassuring than alarming for the near term.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 5 Jan. 2026
China’s increasingly advanced military capabilities are alarming the West and reshaping the global balance of naval power, analysts said.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for alarming
Recent Examples of Synonyms for alarming
Adjective
-
This isn’t the terrifying Frost of modernist criticism—although the poem is fully aware of darkness, and its world, on the cusp of World War I, like ours, certainly had its terrors.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Most prior visits had morphed into extended trips into a terrifying medical underworld — to a purgatory known as emergency department boarding.—
Elisabeth Rosenthal,
Miami Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Clumsiness notwithstanding, bringing a criminal case against a journalist who was reporting on a protest is an authoritarian tactic—a means of frightening the press away from uncovering the truth.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026
-
But monks there complained that the slain king was walking around at night, frightening them with strange sounds.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
There is disturbing use by 13-year-olds and those who are older in bike lanes and our once-tranquil walking and bike trails.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Mark Holdbrooks, 69, was found guilty Friday on multiple charges, including murder, theft and disturbing human remains.—
Katie Houlis,
CBS News,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Yes, scarier than the strange dialogue in Reminders of Him.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
27 Apr. 2026
-
However, there was a really scary moment in a Game 4 thriller when one player took a skate blade straight to the face.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Some cyclists sped by pretty quickly, startling us and our dog.—
Maura Fox,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Hauge called that startling, given that court filing fees alone cost just as much.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Medieval schoolmen worrying over Aristotle could be pedants; so could cultivated female salonnières in seventeenth-century Paris.—
Clare Bucknell,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The technology intentionally comes lacking a human face, and its evangelists have both over-promised regarding what the tools can do in the short term while worrying people about the long-term societal impacts.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
There's also a perception that squishy invertebrates — creatures without backbones — weren't formidable enough to join the ranks of top predators.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Stretching up to 62 feet long, the ancient predator dwarfed modern giant squid and may have rivaled some of the most formidable hunters of the Cretaceous oceans.—
Ryan Brennan,
Charlotte Observer,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Plus, nobody will careen past you at 110 mph, scaring you spitless.—
Allen Best,
Denver Post,
24 Apr. 2026
-
This isn’t a film about trauma, or smuggled-in social issues, or anything at all, really, besides the honest workaday business of scaring the bejesus out of its audience, rinsing, and repeating with extra vigor.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Alarming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alarming. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
