1
as in to break
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
an earthquake that had disrupted the elevated highway in several places
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to disturb
to undo the proper order or arrangement of
the arrival of a baby in the household would totally disrupt their established routine
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of disrupt
Recently, 30-second system outages at Newark Airport's air traffic control tower disrupted communication with aircraft, blanked out controllers' screens, and slowed air traffic.
—
Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 May 2025
This time, though, he’s being fired, which he’s told by a supervisor who sneaks up and screams, disrupting this environment that’s been relatively tranquil during its prior appearances.
—Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
This sudden change disrupted high-frequency radio signals, leading to communication dropouts for some radio operators across affected regions.
—Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 14 May 2025
Because formalism disrupts patriarchal assumptions about the nature of aesthetic experience (namely, that the author possesses omniscient knowledge transferable to the reader), Woolf deploys it to depict the impressions and sensations that characterize the female experience.
—Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for disrupt
Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 May 2025
This time, though, he’s being fired, which he’s told by a supervisor who sneaks up and screams, disrupting this environment that’s been relatively tranquil during its prior appearances.
—Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
This sudden change disrupted high-frequency radio signals, leading to communication dropouts for some radio operators across affected regions.
—Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 14 May 2025
Because formalism disrupts patriarchal assumptions about the nature of aesthetic experience (namely, that the author possesses omniscient knowledge transferable to the reader), Woolf deploys it to depict the impressions and sensations that characterize the female experience.
—Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for disrupt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disrupt
Verb
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Most of them lasted for about one microsecond before breaking apart.—
George Petras,
USA Today,
17 May 2025
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Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
16 May 2025
Verb
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These days, there’s no shortage of packable, lightweight sleeping pads to make sure no peas (or pebbles) ever disturb your slumber on your next backpacking trip.—
Scott Gilbertson,
Wired News,
11 May 2025
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Both of these albums were born at a time when outside factors disturbed their peace.—
Alex Gonzalez,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 May 2025
Verb
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Brubaker fractured his ribs in spring training, and other injuries, including Tommy John surgery, have kept him out of the majors since 2022.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
18 May 2025
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When a parent abuses a child, the experience can be too horrible to bear, so that what happens is that the core of the child’s identity gets fractured.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
16 May 2025
Verb
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While no one should ever have confused the entertainment business with a warm binkie, the institutions themselves are in the new and awkward spot of having to justify their existence.—
Dana Harris-Bridson,
IndieWire,
12 May 2025
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All of the footage from The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon makes the show-within-a-show look silly, which the series confuses with humorousness.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2025
Verb
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In order to retrieve the original source code of the Entity and destroy it, Hunt has to risk life and limb and dive into icy arctic waters to a sunken Soviet submarine teetering 500 feet underwater.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
15 May 2025
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At least 144 structures were destroyed and parts of Highway 44 were shut down, said St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
15 May 2025
Verb
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Bemused tourists attempt to shuffle through the acrid red and blue flare smoke.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
18 May 2025
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Deep in the bowels of State Farm Stadium, Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson and a group of his players shuffled into a concrete-walled space that had been converted into a makeshift press conference room.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
16 May 2025
Verb
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An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by at least 7.6 million from the Medicaid changes, and possibly more with other changes to the Affordable Care Act.—
Kevin Freking,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2025
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In Sacramento, California, the weather service warned its office would have reduced staffing overnight.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
Verb
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Within a year, the business is worse off—overextended, disorganized, and more stressed than before.—
AllBusiness,
Forbes.com,
7 May 2025
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Flights can be disrupted or disorganized, passengers can be grumpy and some of them even might smell.—
Arabella Hau,
People.com,
16 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disrupt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disrupt. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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