disrupting

verb

present participle of disrupt
1
as in breaking
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 shuffling
to undo the proper order or arrangement of the arrival of a baby in the household would totally disrupt their established routine

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 disrupting The strategically vital strait has been effectively closed by Iran since fighting began in late February, disrupting a major route for global oil shipments. — Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026 Tellis said these private companies would likely be better at surveillance than actually disrupting criminal enterprises. — Henry Larson, NPR, 15 Aug. 2026 The company says its systems were deployed and operating in less than 24 hours without specialized installation equipment or disrupting normal port operations. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2026 Beyond agriculture, extreme weather is also disrupting Europe’s nuclear power supply. — CNBC, 14 Aug. 2026 In 2025, Wanda Sykes, who co-hosted the 2022 Oscars with Amy Schumer and Regina Hall, told Variety that Smith had apologized to her personally for disrupting the show with the slap. — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 14 Aug. 2026 Two men have been charged by the Tarrant County district attorney after they were kicked out of Commissioners Court last week for disrupting the meeting. — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Aug. 2026 Meanwhile, Ukraine’s increasingly effective long-range drone strikes are disrupting Russia’s energy sector and reducing state revenues. — Matt Waldman, Foreign Affairs, 13 Aug. 2026 Wealthy clients, who pay a premium for privacy, are increasingly frustrated by influencers and reviewrs disrupting their experiences with filming and photo shoots. — Doug Gollan, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disrupting
  1. breaking
  2. shuffling
  3. fracturing
  4. disturbing
  5. destroying
  6. confusing
  7. reducing
  8. upsetting
Verb
  • Cruz, out since early June after breaking his left hand, turned on a 2-2 knuckle curve from Keider Montero (9-8) in the fifth inning and sent it 422 feet to right-center for his 15th homer of the season and his first since June 2.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Jonas Vingegaard won’t race again this season after breaking his collarbone in the Tour de France.
    — Chris Branch, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of breaking
Verb
  • Keeping your eye on Bredeson is as hard as tracking a ball beneath shuffling cups.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Frank Beard, the longtime, hard-shuffling drummer for Texas rock greats ZZ Top, died on Monday.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of shuffling
Verb
  • Miller has been accused by Emily Moreno of throwing hot water from a skillet at her body, holding a gun to her head, and fracturing their daughter’s collarbone.
    — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 13 Aug. 2026
  • On the east side, the dam was build atop an ancient landslide of mica schist, a type of rock vulnerable to fracturing that would allow moisture to seep inside.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of fracturing
Verb
  • Tian took the photo during his biodiversity research on the seaway, using environmental DNA sampling and drone surveys to monitor the ecosystem’s health, without disturbing any of the resident wildlife.
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026
  • All three will face a slew of charges, including injuring or removing a tomb or monument, disturbing the contents of a grave or tomb and grand theft, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.
    — Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of disturbing
Verb
  • The show was filmed across Northern Ireland, and the weather proved to be brutal, with the rain constantly destroying sets that had to be rebuilt.
    — Matt Minton, Variety, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The Ukrainian defenders repelled the attack and posted video footage of their kamikaze drone strikes destroying at least seven T-72B3A tanks, including some that carried the Arena-M system, according to Euromaidan Press.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of destroying
Verb
  • The light entering my eyes would bend at two different angles, confusing my brain and making my vision a little blurry.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Bringing in extra mythology wouldn’t make the confusing parts any less confusing, and would just confuse the parts that aren’t confusing at all.
    — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of confusing
Verb
  • China, too, has relied heavily on its own massive oil stockpiles, while simultaneously drastically reducing its crude imports.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
  • That’s the international initiative aimed at reducing the number of severe injury and fatal crashes to zero.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of reducing
Verb
  • Chelsea Green dramatically won the WWE Women's Interim Championship in a thrilling ladder match, upsetting heavy favorite Charlotte Flair.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • More pragmatic figures in the establishment accuse these hard-liners of upsetting the country’s social peace with needless political repression, and by seeking to micromanage the lifestyles of ordinary people.
    — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
Definition of upsetting

Browse Nearby Words

disrupters
disrupting
disruption
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Cite this Entry

“Disrupting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disrupting. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of disrupting for Spanish Speakers

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