derailed

verb

past tense of derail
as in distracted
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy according to police, the suspect had been derailed in recent months by mounting financial problems

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 derailed Thereby hangs Colloff’s spellbinding tale of a justice system derailed by biases. — Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026 Last week, more than a dozen empty coal cars derailed on a bridge over the Grant Calumet River in East Chicago, Indiana. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 1 July 2026 The summer’s political bestseller portrays him as a figure whose transformative potential has been utterly derailed by hubris. — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 3 July 2026 The burning husks of large trucks transporting fuel and derailed train cars were filmed and photographed by civilians and Ukrainian military drones, highlighting supply chain disruptions. — Marc Santora, New York Times, 4 July 2026 After being so brutally and unfortunately derailed, the album doesn’t really recover. — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 6 July 2026 The injury, a torn anterior cruciate ligament, not only derailed a possible title run that season, but also upended the Trojans’ trajectory for the next one. — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026 As per Linked In, the former soccer player at the University of Richmond ended up transferring to the University of Miami when a shoulder injury derailed her path in sports. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 7 July 2026 In the latest installment of The Deadliest Drug, STAT’s Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher break down exactly how Trump officials have derailed alcohol research and prevention. — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 30 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derailed
  1. distracted
  2. disturbed
  3. alarmed
  4. bothered
  5. concerned
  6. worried
  7. angered
  8. plagued
Verb
  • But Lucky distracted us in hospital waiting rooms, gave us something to talk about other than the too-painful conversational alternative.
    — Marissa Stapley, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026
  • Employees need clarity and space to do their jobs without being distracted by unnecessary information.
    — Anna Jankowska, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
Definition of distracted
Verb
  • The location of the digging also could have disturbed another grave that may now be unmarked.
    — Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2026
  • Home to North America’s tallest mountain, Denali's six million acres of wilderness are disturbed by only one road.
    — Josh Laskin, Travel + Leisure, 3 July 2026
Definition of disturbed
Verb
  • Those measures, however, have alarmed privacy advocates, who argue that age-gating the internet would affect all users — not just children.
    — Angela Yang, NBC news, 30 June 2026
  • That’s alarmed the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents about 400 nurses and staff at two psychiatric hospitals in Sacramento.
    — Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 29 June 2026
Definition of alarmed
Verb
  • Maybe Bill Plaschke would be aware of that, and give due credit, if his hometown major newspaper bothered to have a dedicated correspondent covering one of the city’s NBA teams.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
  • For all the breathless coverage devoted to celebrity engagements, weddings, and whirlwind divorces, some of Hollywood’s most enduring love stories involve couples who never bothered with the paperwork.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 1 July 2026
Definition of bothered
Verb
  • But both are concerned as heck about their missing boy, Carter, who is having some growing-up issues with his parents.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 3 July 2026
  • The mom added that she is concerned after claiming that no one from the camp told her about the incident.
    — Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
Definition of concerned
Verb
  • The officials said the US worried that Israel might assassinate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker who is leading negotiations with the US, or Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who has also been a public face of the talks.
    — Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 4 July 2026
  • That was not enough for investors worried about free cash flow and Meta’s reliance on a narrow, economically sensitive revenue stream.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 3 July 2026
Definition of worried
Verb
  • They also have been angered by Kennedy’s attempts to link vaccines to autism, going against decades of research that show no such link, and his framing of autism as a debilitating disease.
    — Annie Ma, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • They've also been angered by Kennedy's attempts to link vaccines to autism, going against decades of research that show no such link, and his framing of autism as a debilitating disease.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
Definition of angered
Verb
  • Aside from the peeling of the waterproof coating, the reflecting pool has been plagued by an algae bloom, a persistent problem due to Washington’s high heat during the summer and the pool’s shallow depth, which creates an ideal biological incubator.
    — Philip Wang, Time, 6 July 2026
  • Now fully healthy after knee injuries plagued his rookie season, Thiero’s versatility in summer league could potentially translate to regular-season minutes.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of plagued

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Cite this Entry

“Derailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derailed. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of derailed for Spanish Speakers

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