deranging

verb

present participle of derange
1
as in unbalancing
to cause to go insane or as if insane being stranded at night on a lonely road would derange anyone

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disrupting
to undo the proper order or arrangement of the storage room had all been deranged by the earthquake, and it took hours to sort things out

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 deranging Instagram demanded a certain sort of woman and then produced her, deranging broad swaths of the population in the process. — Jia Tolentino, New Yorker, 11 July 2026 Gabriel going missing proves to be deranging to Caroline, and the novel becomes increasingly deranged with her. — John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deranging
  1. unbalancing
  2. disrupting
  3. disturbing
  4. shuffling
  5. distracting
  6. confusing
  7. unhinging
  8. bothering
Verb
  • The risk is that only a handful of clubs will be able to cough up those sums, unbalancing the market.
    — Charlotte Harpur, New York Times, 19 May 2026
Definition of unbalancing
Verb
  • While such attacks are not unprecedented — Iranian strikes hit data centers in Bahrain and the UAE earlier this year — their fallout reaches far beyond the battlefield, disrupting the services civilians and businesses rely on.
    — Lauren Morganbesser, semafor.com, 11 Oct. 2026
  • In Belgium, meanwhile, students joined demonstrations alongside striking workers as the country's two largest labour unions staged a national strike on Friday, disrupting public transport, air travel and other sectors.
    — Makini Brice, Arkansas Online, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of disrupting
Verb
  • Furthermore, the use of economic arguments to justify oppression has disturbing historical precedent.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Police Chief Paul Joseph said at a press conference on Tuesday that Lieu had a criminal history involving firearms and disturbing behavior.
    — Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of disturbing
Verb
  • Green tea was served by gang members shuffling around in slippers.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Ivey and his partner persuaded the Crockfords dealer to rotate the high-value cards 180 degrees before shuffling them back into the pack, citing some obscure superstition as justification.
    — Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of shuffling
Verb
  • Today’s computers are approachable, but also distracting, argues Caligra co-founder and CEO Grant Bisset.
    — Daniel Varghese, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Maybe his conning can be curtailed someday, but the thought there’d ever be enough distracting chaos for a similarly lengthy follow-up is almost too much to bear.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of distracting
Verb
  • Bill Belichick has made a Hall of Fame career on confusing young quarterbacks.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The crowd even includes Sam, who has a fun moment catching up with Roy and confusing him with an observation that sounds like it was inspired by The Wizard of Oz.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of confusing
Verb
  • Burmese pythons, which can engulf an entire Presidential golfing party simply by unhinging their (the pythons’) jaws, inhabit the environs of the Gulf of Mexico, and have even been seen swimming offshore.
    — Ian Frazier, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Definition of unhinging
Verb
  • His work is autobiographical and based on whatever has been bothering him that year.
    — Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • For example, companies that benefit from customers not bothering to cancel subscriptions, compare prices, or search for better deals have taken a beating in recent weeks.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of bothering

Browse Nearby Words

deranges
deranging
derbies
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Cite this Entry

“Deranging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deranging. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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