DISQUIETING Synonyms: 155 Similar and Opposite Words

disquieting 1 of 2

adjective

as in disturbing

causing worry or anxiety disquieting news of troubles downtown

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in uneasy

marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings with a disquieting voice she asked me to investigate the strange noise coming from the basement

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

disquieting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of disquiet

as in alarming

to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy we were disquieted by the strange noises we heard outside our tent at night

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 disquieting

Adjective

That was a disquieting pointer to Federal Reserve Board policy, for the central bank counted controlling inflation, not enduring full employment, as one of its mandates. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026 Putting his lean and sinewy physicality to disquieting use, McNairy makes Wilson both unreadable and coldly transparent, giving him equal parts menace and magnetism. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026 Director Michelangelo Antonioni delivers an unresolved ending that hangs like a melancholic fog over this visually stunning, yet disquieting, two-and-a-half-hour classic. — Maggie Turner, Air Mail, 25 July 2026 He’s long delved into the dark corners of his lived and theoretical experience, pushing toward sticky, disquieting ideas that sent ripples of nervous laughter through a crowd unable to reject his reasoning. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 June 2026 There is also, again, the disquieting realization that four Justices were willing to change the meaning of birthright citizenship, albeit to different degrees, and for varying reasons. — Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 30 June 2026 But there’s also something more disquieting at work here, and not just when George’s advances begin to feel very much like, well, advances. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 June 2026 Much of the film’s success, however, derives not from the twists and turns of plot but from simply situating the viewer in the disquieting vibe of this bizarre place. — David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026 Paying tribute to a South Carolina town destroyed in the 1950s for a nuclear materials plant, the Durham avant-folk trio's disquieting new album is both a community service and a spiritual offering. — Lily Goldberg, Pitchfork, 22 May 2026

Verb

Concurrently, the duo was seeing a growth of comic conventions, but a disquieting sidelining of artists at the same time. — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 2026 The light is always ‘slanted,’ casting the novel’s gnomic creations in disquieting atmospherics. — Literary Hub, 23 July 2026 In a powerful and disquieting GQ profile, the band and some immediate friends and family unraveled the struggles that have plagued their lucrative but life-altering reunion, a kind of cautionary tale for leveling up after settling down. — Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork, 4 May 2026 The author calculated the shock wave’s energy that would be deposited in a human body by using physics similar to that of a bullet impact, which, though disquieting to say the least, is not a bad assumption from a scientific standpoint. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 24 Apr. 2026 The impersonations were disquieting. — Robert Faturechi, ProPublica, 11 Apr. 2026 Her images of ice blocks, lush fabrics, cherries, sea animals, and charred hearts are disquieting in the best way and well worth trekking to Santa Monica to witness in person. — Emma Specter, Vogue, 27 Feb. 2026 The subjects say rending but also disquieting things about killing. — Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026 This is NDiaye at her disquieting best. — Emma Alpern, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for disquieting

Adjective

Even when the metaphor is painfully on the nose, the film’s most disturbing images are more than their dramatic limitations and a whale is still an astonishing place to spend a movie.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026
When her aunt Helena and paralyzed grandmother Regina arrive, the fragile boundaries between everyday life, ancestral superstition and Trina’s increasingly disturbing nightmares begin to collapse.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of disturbing

Adjective

In lieu of an interview, Gibney created an unsettling digital avatar of Musk that says things the real Musk actually uttered.

— Sheelah Kolhatkar, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026
Its aggressively artificial imagery evokes the kind of AI-slop, dreamcore videos that tend to populate social media these days, thrusting the audience into increasingly unsettling spaces that seem generated from a stranger’s hazy childhood.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of unsettling

Adjective

Kushner has defended his private sector connections as having enabled the United States to gain leverage and breakthroughs in tense negotiations.

— Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2026
British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge, played by Rory Kinnear, reveals the news to Hal Wyler, Vice President of the United States, played by Rufus Sewell, in a rather tense meeting in London.

— Peter White, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of tense

Verb

Maybe his conning can be curtailed someday, but the thought there’d ever be enough distracting chaos for a similarly lengthy follow-up is almost too much to bear.

— Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
The text was crisp and easy to read, the matte display minimized distracting reflections, and the ink paper mode made reading comfortable.

— Kimberly Gedeon, PC Magazine, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of distracting

Adjective

Even as Silicon Valley companies have disclosed their models’ involvement in troubling cyberattacks throughout the year, the burgeoning tech sector has continued to drive economic growth.

— Garance Burke, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
MacIntyre, a sophomore, took over for usual starter Faizon Brandon last week as Brandon dealt with a troubling shoulder injury and then made the start against the Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3).

— ABC News, ABC News, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of troubling

Adjective

An adorable pup in Louisiana was anxious to swim into rising Gulf of Mexico waters, doing a stationary doggie paddle while being carried through a flood during Hurricane Isaias.

— Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026
Down at Advanced Base Camp on the Tibetan side, the anxious Indian team could see two headlamps light up their descent high on the mountain.

— Helen Regan, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of anxious

Browse Nearby Words

disquieted

disquieting

disquiets

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Disquieting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disquieting. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of disquieting

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

zenith

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

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

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes