Synonyms of disturbing

disturbing 1 of 2

adjective

di-ˈstər-biŋ 

1

as in annoying

causing annoyance

a disturbing visit by the next-door neighbor while I was trying to study

Synonyms & Similar Words

• annoying
• frustrating
• irritating
• aggravating
• maddening
• exasperating
• irksome
• vexing
• bothersome
• painful
• abrasive
• vexatious
• pestilential
• pesky
• pestiferous
• nettlesome
• troubling
• distractive
• galling
• nettling
• rebarbative
• infuriating
• disquieting
• stressful
• peeving
• riling
• pesty
• carking
• chafing
• upsetting
• troublesome
• plaguey
• rankling
• pestilent
• discomforting
• displeasing
• distressing
• biting
• mischievous
• importunate
• offensive
• burdensome
• enraging
• worrisome
• tiresome
• angering
• trying
• inconveniencing
• jarring
• importune
• thorny
• spiny
• bratty
• brattish
• grating
• jangling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• delightful
• pleasing

2

as in embarrassing

causing embarrassment

there was a disturbing silence as I struggled to remember her name

Synonyms & Similar Words

• embarrassing
• uncomfortable
• awkward
• unpleasant
• confusing
• disconcerting
• difficult
• discomfiting
• unsettling
• humiliating
• troublesome
• impossible
• flustering
• disagreeable
• inconvenient
• intolerable
• unwieldy
• degrading
• demeaning
• mortifying
• humbling
• debasing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• convenient
• comfortable
• agreeable
• pleasing

3

as in unsettling

causing worry or anxiety

a disturbing trend in the nation's energy consumption

Synonyms & Similar Words

• unsettling
• troubling
• frightening
• upsetting
• scary
• nasty
• distressing
• disquieting
• troublesome
• worrisome
• discomforting
• shocking
• perturbing
• terrifying
• horrible
• terrible
• nagging
• troublous
• discouraging
• disconcerting
• dismaying
• alarming
• dire
• discomposing
• disheartening
• chilling
• demoralizing
• dispiriting
• daunting
• discomfiting
• dreadful
• horrifying
• direful
• fearful
• dread
• forbidding
• formidable
• ghastly
• frightful
• horrendous
• persecutory
• intimidating
• fearsome
• harassing
• persecutive
• hair-raising

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• reassuring
• settling
• soothing
• calming
• comforting
• narcotic
• relaxing
• dreamy
• sedative
• inviting
• quieting
• tranquilizing
• consoling
• lulling
• pacifying

4

as in uneasy

marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings

a disturbing pause in the normally smooth operation of the machinery

Synonyms & Similar Words

• uneasy
• unsettling
• tense
• anxious
• creepy
• nervous
• unnerving
• distressing
• disquieting
• restless
• distressful
• worrisome
• agitating
• embarrassing
• fraught
• hairy
• troublesome
• nerve-racking
• nail-biting
• bothersome
• discouraging
• strained
• awkward
• disheartening
• foreboding
• misgiving
• unrestful
• restive

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• easy
• quiet
• peaceful
• comfortable
• tranquil
• calming
• restful
• quieting
• pacific

disturbing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of disturb

1

as in alarming

to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy

all that talk of war disturbed us

Synonyms & Similar Words

• alarming
• distracting
• worrying
• bothering
• concerning
• unsettling
• distressing
• upsetting
• haunting
• angering
• disquieting
• agitating
• dismaying
• discomforting
• annoying
• perturbing
• plaguing
• irritating
• confusing
• embarrassing
• derailing
• unhinging
• undoing
• ailing
• freaking (out)
• exercising
• rattling
• exasperating
• aggravating
• fussing
• bugging
• discouraging
• discomposing
• harassing
• distempering
• flurrying
• frazzling
• weirding out
• vexing
• disconcerting
• hagriding
• irking
• jarring
• discomfiting
• pestering
• galling
• nettling
• unnerving
• grating
• mortifying
• riling
• harrying
• confounding
• chafing
• fretting
• disheartening
• bedeviling
• putting off
• piquing
• putting out
• daunting
• dispiriting
• getting
• demoralizing
• peeving
• chivying
• shaking up
• flustering
• discountenancing
• nonplussing
• abashing
• fazing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• soothing
• calming
• composing
• quieting
• settling
• alleviating
• tranquilizing
• allaying
• pacifying
• appeasing
• placating
• assuaging
• conciliating
• mollifying
• propitiating

2

as in removing

to change the place or position of

the items on her desk had been disturbed by someone

Synonyms & Similar Words

• removing
• moving
• shifting
• relocating
• transferring
• transporting
• conveying
• dislocating
• transposing
• displacing
• repositioning
• carrying
• hauling
• replacing
• transmitting
• driving
• budging
• altering
• varying
• superseding
• transplanting
• modifying
• toting
• lugging
• reworking
• bearing
• carting
• remodeling
• supplanting
• revising
• remaking
• revamping
• making over
• refashioning
• redoing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• setting
• freezing
• stabilizing
• securing
• fixing
• anchoring
• mooring
• embedding
• rooting
• lodging
• implanting
• entrenching
• ingraining

3

as in disrupting

to undo the proper order or arrangement of

her careful filing system is sure to be disturbed during the move

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disrupting
• confusing
• shuffling
• upsetting
• disorganizing
• scrambling
• jumbling
• disarranging
• mixing (up)
• disordering
• muddling
• deranging
• dislocating
• mussing
• tousling
• snarling
• unsettling
• tumbling
• hashing
• disjointing
• disarraying
• disheveling
• messing (up)
• rumpling
• discomposing
• perturbing
• tangling
• stirring (up)
• embroiling
• cluttering
• entangling
• agitating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• regulating
• ranging
• disposing
• organizing
• ordering
• arranging
• straightening (up)
• tidying
• drawing up
• adjusting
• aligning
• marshaling
• lining
• classifying
• arraying
• lining up
• queuing
• codifying
• systematizing
• fixing
• grooming
• making up
• methodizing
• systemizing
• sprucing (up)
• unscrambling

4

as in bothering

to thrust oneself upon (another) without invitation

sorry to disturb you while you're working

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bothering
• worrying
• annoying
• troubling
• bugging
• intruding (upon)
• irritating
• pestering
• harassing
• provoking
• tormenting
• distressing
• chivying
• aggravating
• exasperating
• vexing
• angering
• infuriating
• inconveniencing
• irking
• gnawing
• plaguing
• enraging
• roiling
• maddening
• perturbing
• galling
• bedeviling
• persecuting
• nettling
• grating
• fretting
• riling
• afflicting
• dogging
• invading
• chafing
• hassling
• besetting
• rankling
• rasping
• antagonizing
• outraging
• piquing
• besieging
• dunning
• putting out
• agitating
• getting
• incensing
• beleaguering
• inflaming
• encroaching
• trespassing
• peeving
• obtruding
• deviling
• infringing
• cutting in (on)
• butting in

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignoring
• disregarding
• leaving
• forgetting
• gratifying
• disarming
• slighting
• obliging
• satisfying
• pleasing
• appeasing
• placating
• comforting
• conciliating
• delighting
• consoling
• mollifying
• contenting
• gladdening

5

as in troubling

to cause discomfort to or trouble for

please do not disturb yourself—I'll get my own drink

Synonyms & Similar Words

• troubling
• weighing
• bothering
• inconveniencing
• upsetting
• incommoding
• putting out
• discommoding
• disobliging
• annoying
• angering
• hindering
• impeding
• aggravating
• provoking
• exasperating
• hampering
• burdening
• obstructing
• bugging
• inhibiting
• vexing
• interfering (with)
• encumbering
• handicapping
• saddling
• perturbing
• holding back
• tying up
• hobbling
• galling
• shackling
• riling
• hamstringing
• irking
• fettering
• chafing
• grating
• holding up
• inflaming
• piquing
• nettling
• agitating
• manacling
• getting
• peeving
• trammeling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• assisting
• favoring
• aiding
• helping
• obliging
• accommodating
• facilitating
• abetting
• gratifying
• smoothing
• satisfying
• disarming
• pleasing
• easing
• comforting
• appeasing
• delighting
• consoling
• pacifying
• placating
• mollifying
• conciliating
• gladdening
• contenting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of disturbing

Adjective

Red neon tubes illuminated art works ranging from the disturbing (a black-and-white photograph of a person stuffing sausages in their mouth) to the mundane (a pastoral painting of a snowshoe-wearing rifleman). — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2026

The disturbing allegations The parents of a 2-month-old baby are facing child abuse charges after the little girl died Wednesday at Baltimore's Harbor Hospital. — Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 11 Sep. 2026

Verb

But some have questioned how logging operations may impact the environment with the use of heavy machinery potentially disturbing soil composition, plant growth and animal species. — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 7 Sep. 2026

Kyiv authorities told parents to prepare for the possibility of attacks disturbing school and urged them to teach their children what to do during an alert. — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2026