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

At the time, the Tompkins County District Attorney declined to bring charges, this week telling ABC News the allegations may be morally disturbing, but Jane Doe's account in 2024 did not constitute a crime. — ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026

The development, announced Wednesday, is the latest turn in a disturbing player-health controversy that could lead to legal action. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 30 Sep. 2026

Verb

Baldwin alleged that decision was just one part of a pattern of disturbing prosecutorial abuses, including presenting false information to the grand jury, failing to disclose two firearms reports, and filing an unlawful gun enhancement. — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026

But the death of Khamenei eliminated the regime’s paramount figure, disturbing the existing balance, and the war is systematically privileging the parts of the state responsible for survival over everything else. — Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2026