How to Use disorient in a Sentence

disorient

verb
  • Thick fog can disorient even an experienced hiker.
  • Hang fly traps and tape, and use fans to draw flies away and disorient them.
    — Maria Sabella, The Spruce, 23 June 2026
  • Those bright city lights attract birds and then disorient them.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 14 Apr. 2021
  • Another room spins to disorient the guests while clowns jump around on the walls.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 25 Feb. 2022
  • Speak to your child in a soothing tone but avoid trying to wake them up as this can disorient them.
    — Arielle Tschinkel, Parents, 12 Feb. 2025
  • Not making an effort in the morning will slow down your day and disorient you.
    — Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2020
  • The novel begins with a scene so vivid as to be disorienting.
    — Amy Weiss-Meyer, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2017
  • Such a rapid offense is meant to disorient and overwhelm a target.
    — Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2020
  • At the same time, something about a call just for white people could feel disorienting.
    — Constance Grady, Vox, 1 Aug. 2024
  • The book opens with a dead man running through the snow, bloodied and disoriented.
    — Robert Anglen, azcentral, 11 Mar. 2018
  • Light pollution can disorient them on their flight.
    — Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
  • But if you’re disoriented, give yourself a few minutes to perk up.
    — Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Deep and disorienting distrust reigns over civic life where good faith and clean conscience ought to rule.
    — Matthew Mehan, WSJ, 9 Mar. 2018
  • At first, all these Scorpio vibes may feel a bit disorienting, but don’t fret.
    — Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, 30 Sep. 2018
  • Spending time in such a place is disorienting, like standing on a radar map with blips of light on all sides.
    — By Ben Taub, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2023
  • All the lights at night disorient them and can interfere with their ability to find a mate.
    — Sarah Bowman, USA TODAY, 2 July 2022
  • All the lights at night disorient them and can interfere with their ability to find a mate.
    — Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 28 June 2022
  • The rotors kicked up a thick cloud that blotted out the ground and sky, disorienting the pilot.
    — Jeremy Bogaisky, Forbes, 4 Feb. 2025
  • He may be disoriented and in need of assistance.
    — Vivian Kwarm, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2026
  • He may be disoriented and in need of assistance.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2026
  • He may be disoriented and in need of assistance.
    — Vivian Kwarm, New York Daily News, 6 Feb. 2026
  • He may be disoriented and in need of assistance.
    — Vivian Kwarm, New York Daily News, 6 Feb. 2026
  • He may be disoriented and in need of assistance.
    — Vivian Kwarm, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2026
  • Maybe the whale in Poel had become disoriented.
    — Jessica Camille Aguirre, New Yorker, 2 May 2026
  • The old woman shifted at her end of the sofa, opened her eyes, and glanced around, disoriented.
    — Samanta Schweblin, The New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2025
  • Except, as UConn fans would agree, this is the good kind of disorienting.
    — Kels Dayton, Hartford Courant, 11 June 2024
  • Groggy and disoriented, Mave staggered to her feet and bound up the stump of her left arm with some cloth.
    — Nick Turse, Teen Vogue, 14 Nov. 2018
  • In the first debate Biden seemed at times disoriented, mouth agape, even freezing up.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 8 Aug. 2024
  • When the signal dropped, the pair became disoriented deep in the forest.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 17 July 2025
  • Others close to the 51-year-old were worried that he may have been disoriented.
    — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disorient.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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