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
  • Women were made to feel that their bodies were somehow offensive, distracting, or inconvenient.
    — Robin Givhan, Vanity Fair, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Now, a cross-sectional study based on a registry of fatal US motor vehicle crashes has found that the love of her albums may have even contributed a statistically significant bump in deadly traffic accidents, presumably by distracting drivers.
    — Mike McRae August 18, New Atlas, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of distracting
Verb
  • Tian took the photo during his biodiversity research on the seaway, using environmental DNA sampling and drone surveys to monitor the ecosystem’s health, without disturbing any of the resident wildlife.
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026
  • All three will face a slew of charges, including injuring or removing a tomb or monument, disturbing the contents of a grave or tomb and grand theft, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.
    — Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 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
  • Some interns hesitate to contact their former colleagues for fear of bothering them, but most people are eager to help out young talent.
    — Sophie Caldwell, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Contreras rarely takes days off but asked for a day off Sunday with his leg bothering him.
    — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of bothering
Verb
  • Chelsea Green dramatically won the WWE Women's Interim Championship in a thrilling ladder match, upsetting heavy favorite Charlotte Flair.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • More pragmatic figures in the establishment accuse these hard-liners of upsetting the country’s social peace with needless political repression, and by seeking to micromanage the lifestyles of ordinary people.
    — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
Definition of upsetting
Verb
  • Evans also cautioned against confusing maximal lifespan for a healthy lifespan.
    — Lauren Chan, STAT, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Thompson acknowledged that confusing the quarterback, like the defense appeared to do on that play, is a big part of new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s scheme.
    — Jon Machota, New York Times, 19 Aug. 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
  • The attack comes just days before fall classes begin at the historically Black university, unsettling students who had recently moved into residence halls and completed freshman orientation events.
    — Patrick Whittle, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026
  • That reshuffle opened the door for Amad, who shone on the right with a bustling performance, unsettling PSG with his sharp dribbling and laying on an assist for Mbeumo.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 9 Aug. 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 26 Aug. 2026.

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