DISQUIETING Synonyms: 155 Similar and Opposite Words

disquieting 1 of 2

adjective

as in disturbing

causing worry or anxiety disquieting news of troubles downtown

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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

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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

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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

That was a disquieting pointer to Federal Reserve Board policy, for the central bank counted controlling inflation, not enduring full employment, as one of its mandates. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026 Putting his lean and sinewy physicality to disquieting use, McNairy makes Wilson both unreadable and coldly transparent, giving him equal parts menace and magnetism. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026 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

Verb

Concurrently, the duo was seeing a growth of comic conventions, but a disquieting sidelining of artists at the same time. — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 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

One of the most disturbing reasons given was that the DOT will never install a speed reducer closer than a distance of 1,000 feet (nearly a quarter of a mile) from a speed camera.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 28 Oct. 2026
Family members reported objects disappearing, beds lifting, unexplained odors, and other disturbing occurrences in the house.

— Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of disturbing

Adjective

But bond markets are already uneasy with Brazil's growing debt-to-GDP ratio, and are likely to demand an ever-higher premium if public spending rises significantly.

— Jenni Reid, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026
The effort is backed by an uneasy alliance between the right-wing Make America Healthy Again movement and progressives, both motivated by concerns over food safety.

— Elijah Wolfson, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of uneasy

Verb

But the idea that fine adaptations of great books need to be stopping points, rather than springboards, is alarming by itself.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
There are signs that the President is unravelling, in ways that are different from late-period Joe Biden but are alarming all the same.

— David Remnick, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of alarming

Adjective

There’s something so unsettling about a game show where the contestants’ well-being is not considered, and The Tonight Show leaned into that uncanniness to great effect.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
The series explores the unsettling collision of ancient witchcraft beliefs and modern digital dating culture.

— Samantha Bergeson, Time, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of unsettling

Adjective

Although a tense urban peace has taken hold since then, many residents of Paris, Toulouse, Marseille and other cities beset by riots still feel under siege, much like Los Angeles after the 1992 riots.

— Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
The story opens with an incredibly tense first scene, with Jimmy Stewart’s Scottie chasing a suspect across rooftops in San Francisco.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of tense

Verb

As a result, your mind is always searching for the next project to tackle or problem to solve, distracting you while hanging out with family or keeping you from sleeping.

— Melody Wilding, Contributor, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026
The compelling series achieves a provocative dissection of it all with rare confidence without the overindulgence of distracting CGI tossed in for sheer spectacle.

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of distracting

Adjective

One particularly troubling example comes from the Justice Department's case against Epsilon Data Management.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2026
From a troubling police restraint death in Elk Grove to a new food literacy TV show, Sacramento made plenty of headlines recently.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of troubling

Adjective

The director general was attempting to lift the gloom after being beset with questions from anxious employees about job losses, service reductions, and general retrenchment.

— Max Goldbart, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2026
An anxious child Apart from her scribbled notes, scant details are available about Runa’s experience in detention, according to her lawyer Yoshihiro Mukai.

— Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of anxious

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“Disquieting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disquieting. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of disquieting

adjective

verb

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