DISRUPTS Synonyms: 101 Similar and Opposite Words

disrupts

verb

present tense third-person singular of disrupt

as in breaks

to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly an earthquake that had disrupted the elevated highway in several places

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as in disturbs

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

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 disrupts According to the 2025 Global Sleep Survey by the medical device company, 39% of respondents said their partner disrupts their sleep at least once a week, and 36% pointed to a partner’s snoring or loud breathing. — Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 24 Sep. 2026 Yanbu, a major Red Sea oil export hub, has become particularly important as the war with Iran disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026 An accident disrupts the ritual, and Keigetsu, thrown off balance, sees her spell spiral out of her control, sending the two women back into each other’s bodies. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026 Macron also said Sunday’s talks are part of broader efforts to help France secure oil and gas supplies as the war with Iran disrupts global energy markets and raises fears of higher prices for fuel and other essentials. — ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026 According to the 2025 Global Sleep Survey by Resmed, a medical device company, 39% of respondents said their partner disrupts their sleep at least once a week. — Lauren Schuster, Charlotte Observer, 18 Sep. 2026 That means if a trade war squeezes household spending, disrupts supply chains or generates ill will among local constituencies, there’s a chance the NHL (and at least 10 clubs) feels the pinch. — Rick Burton, Sportico.com, 18 Sep. 2026 Voters are confronting high prices, particularly for gas at the pumps, as the conflict disrupts the flow of oil resources through the vital Strait of Hormuz. — Arkansas Online, 17 Sep. 2026 But anything that disrupts the unfussy, uncomplicated energy of this adult drama would likely torpedo the whole enterprise. — Marshall Shaffer, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for disrupts

Verb

But about 1 in 20 patients progress to severe dengue, a life-threatening turn that tends to strike just as the fever breaks – often around days three to seven, when patients and their families may wrongly assume the worst is over.

— Andrés Henao, CNN Money, 21 Sep. 2026
Dillane, superb in Harris Dickinson’s Urchin, has presence but is somewhat shortchanged by the script’s one-dimensional grasp of Willoughby, the dashing romantic hero revealed to be an opportunistic cad who breaks Marianne’s heart.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of breaks

Verb

Some of the sightings claim a man wearing clothing typical of the 17th or 18th centuries, a man dressed in Confederate attire in the liquor room, a ghost of a former worker Joseph Hardesty and a female who actively disturbs visitors to her home.

— Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
That disturbs Masters, an auto mechanic who moved out of the mobile home park before the 2021 floods.

— Ren Larson, ProPublica, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of disturbs

Verb

How IonQ cracked error correction Since making measurements of a qubit destroys its quantum state, researchers can only gather information about their syndromes to know if the qubit has accumulated an error or not.

— Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2026
This natural inversion destroys leadership, fractures relationships and halts self-improvement.

— Brendan Keegan, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of destroys

Verb

This confuses each Nyota but also those around them, who note that the Nyotas have rather quickly assumed new hairstyles but also that neither is behaving quite like herself.

— Keith Phipps, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
Retreat to the previous paragraph if the question confuses you.

— John Tamny, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of confuses

Verb

As grief turns to accusation, Warmooge’s mother refuses burial without justice, and the village fractures under the weight of uncertainty and pressure to resolve the truth.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026
This natural inversion destroys leadership, fractures relationships and halts self-improvement.

— Brendan Keegan, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of fractures

Verb

This creates a cleaner edge, makes mowing easier, and reduces competition between the tree and turf.

— Tricia Goss, Southern Living, 28 Sep. 2026
The plan also reduces investment in Central Maryland transit by approximately $360 million, or 12%, while shrinking the Baltimore region’s share of statewide transit investment from 34% to 30%.

— Brian O'Malley, Baltimore Sun, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of reduces

Verb

Even those who can afford to stay suffer losses in home equity and lifestyle as the community around them disintegrates or disappears.

— The Conversation, Fortune, 12 June 2026
None are quite about the conflicting frames of reference and value that arise when an ancient cultural formation disintegrates and a successor has yet to take its place.

— Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 1 June 2026