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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 derailing 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 The analysts wrote that a common fear among investors is that the scale of infrastructure investment required for electrification becomes too expensive, derailing the sector’s growth. — Joseph Wilkins, CNBC, 17 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derailing
  1. bothering
  2. distracting
  3. disturbing
  4. concerning
  5. alarming
  6. worrying
  7. angering
  8. agitating
Verb
  • Some interns hesitate to contact their former colleagues for fear of bothering them, but most people are eager to help out young talent.
    — Sophie Caldwell, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Contreras rarely takes days off but asked for a day off Sunday with his leg bothering him.
    — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of bothering
Verb
  • The distracting Diwali fireworks distracted led to reshoots of the pivotal moment.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Not only are these sheer curtains over half off right now, but the subtle stripe adds just enough visual interest without distracting from your room’s overall design scheme.
    — Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of distracting
Verb
  • The relative rarity and disturbing nature of these cases are part of what attracts so much attention, said Michelle Oberman, a law professor at Santa Clara University who has studied and written about women who kill their children.
    — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
  • But after a series of disturbing events begins occurring around town, including the arrival of a mysterious stranger, Madeline, Celeste, Renata, Jane and Bonnie must grapple with the weight of their past secrets, a synopsis reads.
    — Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of disturbing
Verb
  • The clandestine manner in which LG monitors were installing ad-pushing software onto third-party devices, however, remains seriously concerning.
    — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The organization says while a lot of work has been accomplished to bring those numbers down, any death in the community is concerning, every loss affects the community.
    — Spencer Wilson, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of concerning
Verb
  • 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
  • Found in many foods For consumers, of course, the latest food safety concerns can be alarming given that lettuce and jalapeño peppers are used in many of the roughly 1 billion meals Americans consume daily.
    — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of alarming
Verb
  • This was several shades darker, worrying about economic upheaval, social unrest, cyberattacks, bioterrorism—and most important, the failure of experts and governments to take these threats seriously enough.
    — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Celeste begins worrying about her mother-in-law after her credit cards are declined and her outfits are increasingly out of place, but things begin to click when Mary-Louise gives Max, Josh and Ziggy expensive cars.
    — Matt Minton, Variety, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of worrying
Verb
  • Still, in a great credit to their organization, the Kansas City Chiefs stuck by him while others may have immediately cut him to avoid angering the sports media mob.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2026
  • On the second day of the Test, Woodfull was hit over the heart by Larwood, angering the 50,000-strong partisan crowd.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 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

Browse Nearby Words

derailed
derailing
derails
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Derailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derailing. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of kith

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 28

Why do we say 'break a leg'?
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All