DISQUIETING Synonyms: 155 Similar and Opposite Words

disquieting 1 of 2

adjective

as in disturbing

causing worry or anxiety disquieting news of troubles downtown

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in uneasy

marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings with a disquieting voice she asked me to investigate the strange noise coming from the basement

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

disquieting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of disquiet

as in alarming

to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy we were disquieted by the strange noises we heard outside our tent at night

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 disquieting

Adjective

Director Michelangelo Antonioni delivers an unresolved ending that hangs like a melancholic fog over this visually stunning, yet disquieting, two-and-a-half-hour classic. — Maggie Turner, Air Mail, 25 July 2026 He’s long delved into the dark corners of his lived and theoretical experience, pushing toward sticky, disquieting ideas that sent ripples of nervous laughter through a crowd unable to reject his reasoning. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 June 2026 There is also, again, the disquieting realization that four Justices were willing to change the meaning of birthright citizenship, albeit to different degrees, and for varying reasons. — Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 30 June 2026 But there’s also something more disquieting at work here, and not just when George’s advances begin to feel very much like, well, advances. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 June 2026 Much of the film’s success, however, derives not from the twists and turns of plot but from simply situating the viewer in the disquieting vibe of this bizarre place. — David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026 Paying tribute to a South Carolina town destroyed in the 1950s for a nuclear materials plant, the Durham avant-folk trio's disquieting new album is both a community service and a spiritual offering. — Lily Goldberg, Pitchfork, 22 May 2026 An office complex in Oakland has been seized by its lender through a foreclosure that serves as a disquieting reminder that financial setbacks continue to haunt commercial properties in the East Bay’s largest city. — George Avalos, Mercury News, 14 May 2026 Pattinson and Zendaya play a couple whose wedding engagement is derailed after a disquieting revelation. — ABC News, 1 May 2026

Verb

Kreutzer’s approach is disquieting in its intimacy, keeping agonizingly close to Lucy’s real-time perspective. — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026 The light is always ‘slanted,’ casting the novel’s gnomic creations in disquieting atmospherics. — Literary Hub, 23 July 2026 In a powerful and disquieting GQ profile, the band and some immediate friends and family unraveled the struggles that have plagued their lucrative but life-altering reunion, a kind of cautionary tale for leveling up after settling down. — Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork, 4 May 2026 The author calculated the shock wave’s energy that would be deposited in a human body by using physics similar to that of a bullet impact, which, though disquieting to say the least, is not a bad assumption from a scientific standpoint. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 24 Apr. 2026 The impersonations were disquieting. — Robert Faturechi, ProPublica, 11 Apr. 2026 Her images of ice blocks, lush fabrics, cherries, sea animals, and charred hearts are disquieting in the best way and well worth trekking to Santa Monica to witness in person. — Emma Specter, Vogue, 27 Feb. 2026 The subjects say rending but also disquieting things about killing. — Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026 This is NDiaye at her disquieting best. — Emma Alpern, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for disquieting

Adjective

Last awards season, the gossip around town, salacious and disturbing in equal measure, was that hotel suites all over Hollywood were populated by tailors taking in gowns coming straight off the runway.

— Marti Noxon, HollywoodReporter, 26 Aug. 2026
The disturbing situation came to light after a tree fell on the home during a storm.

— Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of disturbing

Adjective

Kurt's key takeaways Hearing AI on a 911 call would make a lot of people uneasy.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026
Falwell correctly sensed vulnerability in the uneasy alliance between rationalism and Christianity that had prevailed since the eighteenth-century Enlightenment.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of uneasy

Verb

The development proved alarming enough that OpenAI vowed last week to slow the release of its upcoming Astra AI model.

— Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 12 Aug. 2026
Found in many foods For consumers, of course, the latest food safety concerns can be alarming given that lettuce and jalapeño peppers are used in many of the roughly 1 billion meals Americans consume daily.

— Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of alarming

Adjective

That year, the head trainer of the Commanders was found to have been illegally distributing oxycodone to players — an unsettling reminder of the NFL's difficult history with painkillers.

— ABC News, ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026
The quirky robot is a notable departure from the more unsettling machines that typically make headlines today.

— Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of unsettling

Adjective

After hours of argument that at times grew tense, a hearing Thursday ended without a ruling from Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis, and the Tates were returned to jail.

— Jonny Hallam, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
In Danbury, protesters have had tense confrontations with ICE officers, who responded at least once with pepper spray, according to activists.

— ABC News, ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of tense

Verb

The distracting Diwali fireworks distracted led to reshoots of the pivotal moment.

— Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
Not only are these sheer curtains over half off right now, but the subtle stripe adds just enough visual interest without distracting from your room’s overall design scheme.

— Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of distracting

Adjective

Their affection feels genuine, which makes the fault lines beneath it more troubling.

— Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
But as the team recently spotted troubling signs during yet another training run of an unreleased model—one expected to deliver the biggest leap yet—a more consequential decision was made to pause it until new security measures were put in place.

— Alex Heath, Time, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of troubling

Browse Nearby Words

disquieted

disquieting

disquiets

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Disquieting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disquieting. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of disquieting

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

dissonant

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Games & Quizzes