DERAILING Synonyms: 91 Similar and Opposite Words

derailing

verb

present participle of derail

as in bothering

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

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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 derailing The two countries failed to reach a trade deal last Friday, with each side blaming the other for derailing three days of intensive negotiations. — Desiree Adib, ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026 One of Gates’ fears about letting AI continue unchecked is that society will turn against it entirely, derailing its potential to improve humanity, particularly through advances in science and health. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 26 Aug. 2026 Observers note a similar transactional caution in Trump stalling on a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan—the largest ever—to avoid derailing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 17 Aug. 2026 His filing instead describes the intervention as a way to prevent a potential dispute unique to Harwood from derailing the removal proceeding. — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 13 Aug. 2026 One tornado slammed into the town of Ransom, derailing several freight train cars, while the other touched down north of Streator, flattening several homes. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026 Ed Burke played a key role in derailing her 2019 campaign for mayor. — Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026 The rulings wiped out the dreams of thousands of Italian descendants who had been hoping to achieve citizenship, derailing life plans and splitting families apart. — Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026 At the same time, borrowers are reporting increasing problems and errors that are delaying or derailing their ability to maintain access to affordable repayment plan programs and student loan forgiveness. — Adam S. Minsky, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for derailing

Verb

The list of maladies bothering Ohtani is lengthy, and grew this week.

— Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Ohtani reported that the area from his biceps to his neck was bothering him Wednesday night, Roberts said.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of bothering

Verb

Since each qubit is individually connected to the coupler, each qubit can be individually reset without disturbing its neighboring qubits.

— Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2026
Kyiv authorities told parents to prepare for the possibility of attacks disturbing school and urged them to teach their children what to do during an alert.

— Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of disturbing

Verb

One of the fears concerning AI in fiction filmmaking is that the medium of cinema could lose the value of the empathic connection people have with other humans.

— Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 31 Aug. 2026
More concerning memory problems may involve difficulty retaining new information in the first place, like repeatedly asking a question without remembering the answer.

— Danielle Zickl, HEALTH, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of concerning

Verb

OpenAI’s use of a new technique that obscures AI agents’ chain of thought is alarming the research community.

— Benjamin Guggenheim, Washington Post, 2 Sep. 2026
The development proved alarming enough that OpenAI vowed last week to slow the release of its upcoming Astra AI model.

— Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of alarming

Verb

While the sports industrial complex has largely been immune from America’s trust crisis, new concerns over betting’s influence on game integrity are not only worrying fans like Brannock, but also league officials.

— Andrew Zucker, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
McCarthy reunited with Aaron Rodgers, his old Super Bowl quarterback, and Harbaugh inherited Jaxson Dart as the Giants’ established young starter and spent August worrying more about protecting him than replacing him.

— Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of worrying

Verb

However, Gemini halted withdrawals from its Earn program in November 2022, angering some of its more than 300,000 users.

— Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 31 Aug. 2026
Newsom also wants to reduce payments that fire victims can receive for non-economic damages including pain and suffering, angering victims of the Eaton fire.

— Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of angering

Verb

One of the loudest voices in the cattle world agitating against the border reopening is Bill Bullard, the CEO of R-CALF, a national association of independent cattle and sheep farmers.

— Max Saltman, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
Eritreans began agitating for independence in the 1960s, which only happened after decades of war and a regime change in Ethiopia.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of agitating

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“Derailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derailing. Accessed 7 Sep. 2026.

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