as in disturbing
marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings
the unnerving news of yet another murder
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in paralyzing
to deprive of courage or confidence
the riding accident so unnerved me that for a while I was afraid to get back on a horse
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in discouraging
to lessen the courage or confidence of
a figure skater can't afford to be unnerved by an occasional slipup
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unnerving
Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Imbued with dread, Longlegs will get under your skin, as will the image of Nicolas Cage as the unnerving titular villain.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Feb. 2026
And that exercise gets unnerving fast.
—Big Think, 20 Feb. 2026
The rest of the rehearsal was only more unnerving.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
When those same renters feel unsafe going to work, the upshot is a crisis unfolding indoors — one that's less visible than arrests and detentions on the streets, but still deeply unnerving.
—CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026
The Seattle Seahawks’ postgame celebration at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday night was unnerving.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2026
Jorge Gomez, a recent retiree who has lived in the area for about 10 years, said the news was unnerving.
—New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
In addition to helping quell fear, the songs were unnerving to authorities trying to maintain segregation.
—David W. Stowe, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2026
Andrew Ryce, Pitchfork, 27 Feb. 2026
Most pages exude that unnerving queasiness which results from seeing a worrying lack of paragraph breaks in the foreseeable near future.
—Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026
The videos shared by robot builder and researcher Logan Olson from October show the training exercise that enables a humanoid unit to suddenly drop to all fours and crawl at an unnerving speed and with unnerving flexibility.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025
Especially unnerving this year for hoteliers was a far less robust summer than normal, so much so that nightly rates for the hotel group fell by as much as 10%, depending on the day of the week, Gleason said.
—Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025
Immigration crackdowns are unnerving a part of the population.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 26 Nov. 2025
The witchy gothic nature of their song captures the haunted, unnerving quality of Emily Brontë’s novel.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
Israeli forces struck Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, unnerving a White House that feared the bombing campaign would derail its efforts at diplomacy.
—Eric Cortellessa, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
Not all horror stories rely on jump scares and violent spectacle; some unearth their horrors from unnerving philosophical considerations.
—Big Think, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Seeing the migration run in the other direction—Vegas to the world—feels almost off-kilter, a little unnerving, though not uncompelling.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Imbued with dread, Longlegs will get under your skin, as will the image of Nicolas Cage as the unnerving titular villain.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Feb. 2026
And that exercise gets unnerving fast.
—Big Think, 20 Feb. 2026
The rest of the rehearsal was only more unnerving.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
When those same renters feel unsafe going to work, the upshot is a crisis unfolding indoors — one that's less visible than arrests and detentions on the streets, but still deeply unnerving.
—CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026
The Seattle Seahawks’ postgame celebration at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday night was unnerving.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2026
Jorge Gomez, a recent retiree who has lived in the area for about 10 years, said the news was unnerving.
—New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
In addition to helping quell fear, the songs were unnerving to authorities trying to maintain segregation.
—David W. Stowe, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2026
Verb
There’s something unnerving about the mundane thwack of the rhythms.
—Andrew Ryce, Pitchfork, 27 Feb. 2026
Most pages exude that unnerving queasiness which results from seeing a worrying lack of paragraph breaks in the foreseeable near future.
—Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026
The videos shared by robot builder and researcher Logan Olson from October show the training exercise that enables a humanoid unit to suddenly drop to all fours and crawl at an unnerving speed and with unnerving flexibility.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025
Especially unnerving this year for hoteliers was a far less robust summer than normal, so much so that nightly rates for the hotel group fell by as much as 10%, depending on the day of the week, Gleason said.
—Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025
Immigration crackdowns are unnerving a part of the population.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 26 Nov. 2025
The witchy gothic nature of their song captures the haunted, unnerving quality of Emily Brontë’s novel.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
Israeli forces struck Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, unnerving a White House that feared the bombing campaign would derail its efforts at diplomacy.
—Eric Cortellessa, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
Not all horror stories rely on jump scares and violent spectacle; some unearth their horrors from unnerving philosophical considerations.
—Big Think, 14 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unnerving
Adjective
-
What followed was even more disturbing.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
-
That would be a particularly disturbing piece of real hate mail Kubrin received late last year after she was quoted in a news story about immigration and crime.—
Andre Mouchard,
Oc Register,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, or COPA, is currently recommending that a Chicago police officer be fired for shooting and paralyzing a 13-year-old back in 2022.—
Jermont Terry,
CBS News,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Though brief, Yoon’s martial law decree triggered the country’s most severe political crisis in decades, paralyzing politics and high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Acknowledge that the disappointment from losing is real—but that feeling is a normal part of all types of play and shouldn't be discouraging.—
Stephanie Ganz,
Parents,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Some Fed officials have specifically argued that last year’s weak hiring shows that borrowing costs are weighing on growth and discouraging companies from expanding.—
Matt Ott,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Many travelers feel 'uneasy' about going abroad.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
-
The United States and Israel’s widening war with Iran has stricken an already uneasy global economy with a new bout of uncertainty.—
Mirtha Donastorg,
AJC.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Clumsiness notwithstanding, bringing a criminal case against a journalist who was reporting on a protest is an authoritarian tactic—a means of frightening the press away from uncovering the truth.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026
-
But monks there complained that the slain king was walking around at night, frightening them with strange sounds.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Mack and the Chargers’ defense pressured quarterbacks Jalen Hurts of the Eagles and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs, frustrating them and keeping them out of their comfort zones.—
Elliott Teaford,
Oc Register,
20 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
The Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General released an unsettling report about spending from the mayor’s office over a three-and-a-half-year period (July 2022 through November 2025).—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Key themes in her work include environmental catastrophe, belief, and the strange and unsettling aspects of human life.—
Joy Williams,
The Dial,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
But across the political divide, the bombings are terrifying for many Iranians, with civilian casualities on the rise.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
-
One 27-year-old Tehran resident said a strike fell a few hundred yards away from her house, terrifying her with the explosion.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
2 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unnerving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unnerving. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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