disturbing
adjective
dis·turb·ing
di-ˈstər-biŋ 
: causing feelings of worry, concern, or anxiety
disturbing news
a disturbing discovery
The next phase in which I had a part was even more disturbing, and infinitely more painful.—
Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
disturbingly
adverb
disturbingly high levels of pollution
a disturbingly familiar problem
… the texture of ordinary life and talk has taken on a disturbingly ambiguous quality …
—Jonathan Raban
Jonathan Raban
Examples of disturbing in a Sentence
a disturbing visit by the next-door neighbor while I was trying to study
there was a disturbing silence as I struggled to remember her name
a disturbing trend in the nation's energy consumption
a disturbing pause in the normally smooth operation of the machinery
Recent Examples on the Web
The especially disturbing aspect is that the AI can introduce new problems while in the quest to do the clean-up.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
This was likely not the first disturbing video these children had encountered, of course, nor the first act of political violence that had appeared on their feeds.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
All of this is strange and disturbing.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
On the other, America is more vulnerable to spectacular, devastating acts of mass violence than any of its peers, and the ominous threat of politically motivated violence is highly disturbing.
—John J. Donohue, Time, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disturbing
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Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
This was likely not the first disturbing video these children had encountered, of course, nor the first act of political violence that had appeared on their feeds.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
All of this is strange and disturbing.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
On the other, America is more vulnerable to spectacular, devastating acts of mass violence than any of its peers, and the ominous threat of politically motivated violence is highly disturbing.
—John J. Donohue, Time, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disturbing
Cite this Entry
“Disturbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disturbing. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.
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