unsettlingly

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 unsettlingly And the book bearing his name is no ancient tome but a slim, spare novel set in an unsettlingly familiar landscape. Colin Dwyer, NPR, 4 Aug. 2026 The Marriage Bed by Tommy Hays After a heated argument with his wife Betsy, Asheville, North Carolina, poetry professor Asa Flowers spends his first night apart from her in decades, only to wake to a world quietly and unsettlingly changed. Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 19 June 2026 Griffin’s blue eyes are unsettlingly bright. Gary Sernovitz, New Yorker, 15 June 2026 Patient arthouse viewers, however, will find much to chew on here as a subtly cerebral film about small bodies unsettlingly, hilariously navigating a big, violent world. Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 25 May 2026 On the season premiere of It Happened in Hollywood, director Lynne Littman and star Jane Alexander, nominated for an Oscar for her performance, revisit the film’s enduring impact, offering a deeply personal look at a project that still feels unsettlingly urgent. Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 17 Mar. 2026 Disappearances are still unsettlingly high. Angélica Durán-Martínez, The Conversation, 24 Feb. 2026 Otherwise, the streets are unsettlingly quiet. Vivian Song, CNN Money, 17 Feb. 2026 In these 2-foot-square pictures, long-haired nude female figures in close Edenic companionship with wild beasts poke their heads out from behind lush tropical foliage, and stare, unsettlingly, straight outward. Benjamin Lima, Dallas Morning News, 5 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsettlingly
Adverb
  • Dreams are one of the central organizing principles in a book that takes much of its power from how disturbingly unmoored the narrative is.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
  • CyberGuy has covered similar sextortion emails that use personal details and Google Maps images to make a bluff feel disturbingly personal.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Adverb
  • The latter of which includes an alarmingly good Starry Night rendition.
    Terrence O'Brien, The Verge, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Argentine choreographer Gabriela Carrizo makes her debut directing opera and utilizes her alarmingly vibrant Belgian dance company, Peeping Tom.
    Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2026
Adverb
  • The movie’s strongest sequences provide the all-too-rare sensation of truly not being able to believe your eyes, as the film’s most fantastical elements feel distressingly real.
    Tiffany Kelly, Entertainment Weekly, 17 July 2026
  • The event was halted after an hour due to fears about her safety, which distressingly encapsulates a tension that the trans Mayan artist has navigated for years.
    Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026
Adverb
  • High-level players will basically always be in a drift—even during straightaways—to seize every opportunity to boost, just like people who were disgustingly good at Mario Kart DS back in the day.
    Adam Ismail, The Drive, 29 Apr. 2026
  • The next morning, Park awakes hung over before disgustingly scoffing down a handful of salmon off a caterer's serving tray.
    Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026
Adverb
  • Such politicians viewed literature as subversive, irritatingly highbrow, and—like socialism—suspiciously European.
    Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Aaron, with divine intervention, turns the dust of the land into gnats that irritatingly cover humans and animals throughout Egypt.
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
Adverb
  • The latter seems annoyingly improbable these days, given the sheer amount of content spend Netflix now puts out every year ($20 billion in 2026).
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Not a massive issue, by any means, but annoyingly repetitive.
    Joe Salas June 28, New Atlas, 28 June 2026
Adverb
  • Three words that make our sports arguments about the transfer portal, load management and the tush push seem awfully small.
    Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2026
  • That said, the roof looks awfully thin to be a pop-up and none of the third-party pop-up ID.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2026
Adverb
  • Hopefully just not as traumatically — although Holly’s already had a slightly traumatic childhood.
    Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unsettlingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsettlingly. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster