upsetting
adjective
up·set·ting
(ˌ)əp-ˈse-tiŋ 
: mentally or emotionally troubling or disturbing : causing feelings of worry or anxiety
heard some upsetting news
an upsetting experience
We're up to [a deficit of] $1.5 trillion a year …. These numbers are truly upsetting.—
Bill Gates
Bill GatesProfessors issue, or students demand, trigger warnings when presenting material that might be upsetting to some: depictions of rape, sexism, racism, suicide.—Yvonne Abraham
Yvonne Abraham
upsettingly
adverb
an upsettingly graphic depiction of violence
In comparison to male historical figures, the number of women that we learn about throughout school is upsettingly low.
—Alexis Gardner
Alexis Gardner
Examples of upsetting in a Sentence
the constant arguing is upsetting to a sensitive person like your grandmother
Recent Examples on the Web
But perhaps even more upsetting was that Issa stayed with him in the finale, a plot point show creator Issa Rae says doesn't sit well with fans to this day.
—Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
That these famous names were dedicating time and energy to the cause nearly two years later felt to me like a poor attempt to rectify what felt like eons of damning, upsetting silence.
—Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 18 Sep. 2025
The Commodores snapped an 11-year poll drought last October, though — fun fact — upsetting Alabama didn’t vault Vandy into the rankings.
—Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
And yet, despite being an Oscar-hopeful crowd-pleaser rather than a horror movie, The Green Mile features some of the most upsetting imagery and themes in any King adaptation.
—James Grebey, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
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Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
That these famous names were dedicating time and energy to the cause nearly two years later felt to me like a poor attempt to rectify what felt like eons of damning, upsetting silence.
—Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 18 Sep. 2025
The Commodores snapped an 11-year poll drought last October, though — fun fact — upsetting Alabama didn’t vault Vandy into the rankings.
—Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
And yet, despite being an Oscar-hopeful crowd-pleaser rather than a horror movie, The Green Mile features some of the most upsetting imagery and themes in any King adaptation.
—James Grebey, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for upsetting
Cite this Entry
“Upsetting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upsetting. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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