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
• irritating
• harassing
• intruding (upon)
• provoking
• pestering
• tormenting
• distressing
• chivying
• exasperating
• aggravating
• angering
• vexing
• infuriating
• inconveniencing
• irking
• gnawing
• plaguing
• enraging
• roiling
• maddening
• perturbing
• galling
• bedeviling
• persecuting
• fretting
• nettling
• grating
• invading
• riling
• afflicting
• dogging
• chafing
• hassling
• besetting
• outraging
• rankling
• rasping
• antagonizing
• piquing
• besieging
• dunning
• getting
• agitating
• putting out
• 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
• provoking
• impeding
• aggravating
• bugging
• exasperating
• burdening
• hampering
• obstructing
• 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

From the restraining order Ian took out against Hadley months before the harassing emails began to the not one, but two pregnancies Angela allegedly faked, here are eight disturbing details A Toxic Love Story left out. — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 25 July 2026

These were actors, hired to play the disturbed as a cover story for something even more disturbing. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 25 July 2026

Verb

Painful testimony, disturbing evidence On Friday, the hearing opened with emotional victim impact statements, laying bare the devastation. — Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 27 July 2026

Another technique Ventre recommends is to use a tiny bit of cream blush on top of powder blush to restore the appearance of the skin’s natural radiance without disturbing longevity. — Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 27 July 2026