derailed

verb

past tense of derail
as in distracted
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy according to police, the suspect had been derailed in recent months by mounting financial problems

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 derailed But his career has been derailed by multiple back and knee surgeries, car accidents and pain pill dependence. — ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026 Madrigal will play Dan, James’ divorced best friend whose plans for single life are derailed by James and Jeanie’s impulsive wedding. — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2026 Next year’s Superman follow-up Man of Tomorrow hopes to avoid whatever lingering DC baggage and other factors derailed Supergirl. — Mark Hughes, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026 Yet last week, California managed to pull it off — navigating the public backlash that has derailed and limited efforts by other Western states. — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026 The usually cordial relationship between Washington and Ottawa has soured considerably in recent weeks, with trade talks derailed and the neighbors now levying multi-billion-dollar tariffs against one another. — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026 But a slew of injuries, a turbulent relationship with his coach and off-field incidents derailed what was once a promising career, and he was ultimately released by his final team, the Cleveland Browns, in 2014. — Nasha Smith, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026 Perhaps there is no hungrier team than the Broncos, whose 14-3 2025 season was derailed when quarterback Bo Nix was injured in the playoffs, forcing a backup to start the AFC championship game. — Nbc Sports, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026 Max Meyer is still sidelined with a neck strain that has derailed the second half of his All-Star season. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derailed
  1. distracted
  2. disturbed
  3. alarmed
  4. bothered
  5. concerned
  6. worried
  7. angered
  8. plagued
Verb
  • The long seven-month offseason has been filled with congressional legislation, eligibility lawsuits, CFP expansion and plenty of other storylines that have distracted from the product on the field.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • You’re not distracted by the clients waiting behind you or the sense that someone is watching and waiting for your chair to open up.
    — Tiana Randall, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of distracted
Verb
  • As a parent who has purchased my share of scary Halloween costumes, I was particularly disturbed by the controversy now engulfing Target.
    — Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2026
  • If disturbed, asbestos’ microscopic crystalline fibers get into the air, where they can be inhaled, cause lung scarring and lead to fatal cancers.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of disturbed
Verb
  • California Forever has increasingly pitched the Solano Shipyard as part of a broader effort to rebuild the US maritime industry, a priority among both Democrats and Republicans alarmed over its decline.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The world’s most powerful economies are increasingly alarmed by their declining birthrates, and there’s no shortage of theories on why.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of alarmed
Verb
  • Somewhere right now, a nurse is scoring a newborn out of ten because Virginia saw over breakfast something nobody else had bothered to address.
    — Stacy L. Hambleton, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
  • What bothered me most was that the effects always lasted longer than the fun did.
    — Ryan Brennan, Sacbee.com, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of bothered
Verb
  • During a performance, Hankerson said he was concerned watching as his mom, who’s been performing for 75 years, fumbled through the set.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Some of that work instead has fallen on journalists, activists and others concerned that anyone with access to the company’s private camera networks can follow virtually any driver's movements with a query as effortless as a Google search.
    — Kenny Jacoby, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of concerned
Verb
  • Longer-term yields on 10-year and 30-year Treasuries were mostly flat, suggesting investors aren’t worried that higher rates will be needed for a long stretch of time to fight inflation.
    — Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Nvidia also said that Amazon Web Services would purchase 2 million of its graphic processors, offering an encouraging sign for investors worried that hyperscaler spending could shrink.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of worried
Verb
  • That will make affordable tickets more difficult to find, especially as the tournament reports registering record-breaking visits, and already has angered fans and some players.
    — Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
  • That angered Michigan Democrats who were frustrated with El-Sayed, and brought Jeffries and other Democrats into the fray, putting the candidate El-Sayed had invested the most in on the defensive.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of angered
Verb
  • Garbage’s set was plagued by technical difficulties, but singer Shirley Manson kept her cool, joking that this was just the kind of thing the band was used to.
    — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The research team identified opportunities to improve the atomic layer etching (ALE) approach, which offers significant advantages over the conventional methods but was plagued by difficulties for practical use.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of plagued

Browse Nearby Words

derail
derailed
derailing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Derailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derailed. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

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

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

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

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All