unbalancing

verb

present participle of unbalance
as in distracting
to cause to go insane or as if insane the shock of the loss of his wife and children completely unbalanced him

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 unbalancing The risk is that only a handful of clubs will be able to cough up those sums, unbalancing the market. — Charlotte Harpur, New York Times, 19 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unbalancing
  1. distracting
  2. disturbing
  3. deranging
  4. bothering
  5. upsetting
  6. confusing
  7. unhinging
  8. unsettling
Verb
  • The previous time the New York Knicks won an NBA Final, in 1973, in-game sound was basically unheard-of in basketball—too distracting for players and fans.
    — Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
  • Low-cost drones are also increasingly being paired with high-end weapons to improve their effectiveness by distracting or overwhelming enemy air defenses.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 15 July 2026
Definition of distracting
Verb
  • At the beginning of the year, Grok sparked outrage for being used to generate millions of conconsensual nudes of real people, including children, disturbing some employees, according to Bloomberg.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 16 July 2026
  • And people are increasingly good at disturbing things, through means like suburbanization.
    — Meg Tirrell, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
Definition of disturbing
Verb
  • Instagram demanded a certain sort of woman and then produced her, deranging broad swaths of the population in the process.
    — Jia Tolentino, New Yorker, 11 July 2026
  • Gabriel going missing proves to be deranging to Caroline, and the novel becomes increasingly deranged with her.
    — John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
Definition of deranging
Verb
  • Wasps are generally more interested in building their colony and finding food than in bothering people.
    — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 17 July 2026
  • But after going ahead, England manager Thomas Tuchel tried to shut the back door by throwing on countless defenders and not bothering to attack Argentina anymore.
    — Aleks Klosok, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
Definition of bothering
Verb
  • Similar concerns have come up related to progressive populists’ potential for upsetting Democratic establishment candidates and incumbents in primaries in Connecticut, Hawaii and Missouri.
    — David M. Drucker, Mercury News, 15 July 2026
  • Led by Haaland, a standout striker, and Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard, the Norwegian team has captured the world’s attention after upsetting five-time champion Brazil in the Round of 16.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 10 July 2026
Definition of upsetting
Verb
  • Indeed, the movie opens with Ed quizzing an older Greek man he’s befriended on the Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester, before berating him for confusing his Bottega Veneta loafers for Sebago.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • Disenfranchising or, at best, confusing their voters risks their own electoral success, too.
    — SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor, The Conversation, 17 July 2026
Definition of confusing
Verb
  • Burmese pythons, which can engulf an entire Presidential golfing party simply by unhinging their (the pythons’) jaws, inhabit the environs of the Gulf of Mexico, and have even been seen swimming offshore.
    — Ian Frazier, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Definition of unhinging
Verb
  • When an accident brings the enigmatic Gaia into their lives, unexpected desires begin to take shape, unsettling the careful balance that has long defined their relationship.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 9 July 2026
  • The paper shared the accounts of three women who had dated Platner within the past fifteen years and had found his behavior unsettling.
    — Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 7 July 2026
Definition of unsettling

Browse Nearby Words

unbalances
unbalancing
unban
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Cite this Entry

“Unbalancing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unbalancing. Accessed 22 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on unbalancing

Nglish: Translation of unbalancing for Spanish Speakers

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