disturbs

verb

present tense third-person singular of disturb
1
as in bothers
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy all that talk of war disturbed us

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2
as in removes
to change the place or position of the items on her desk had been disturbed by someone

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3
as in disrupts
to undo the proper order or arrangement of her careful filing system is sure to be disturbed during the move

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4
as in annoys
to thrust oneself upon (another) without invitation sorry to disturb you while you're working

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in weighs
to cause discomfort to or trouble for please do not disturb yourself—I'll get my own drink

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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 disturbs Some of the sightings claim a man wearing clothing typical of the 17th or 18th centuries, a man dressed in Confederate attire in the liquor room, a ghost of a former worker Joseph Hardesty and a female who actively disturbs visitors to her home. — Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026 Vibration disturbs the natural sediments in wine, flattening the flavor and aging it prematurely. — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2026 That disturbs Masters, an auto mechanic who moved out of the mobile home park before the 2021 floods. — Ren Larson, ProPublica, 2 Sep. 2026 Traffic between somebody else's router and somebody else's laptop, say in a random coffee shop or an airport, can provide the radio field that your body disturbs to create your specific signature. — New Atlas, 26 Aug. 2026 The pier in Michigan City’s Washington Park disturbs the natural flow of sand along the lakeshore, creating new land east of the pier but starving beaches to the west, an erosion problem repeated by other manmade structures that jut out into Lake Michigan. — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2026 Regardless, there’s a clear symbolism to Clark empathizing and embracing a bloated externalization of his own inchoate fury until someone with an outside perspective disturbs his peace, and that fury breaks loose and devours him. — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 29 May 2026 The idea that there can be any kind of misalignment between them, though, disturbs her. — Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 24 May 2026 The worms thrash and move erratically with a snake-like motion that disturbs the topsoil. — Maria Braganini, CBS News, 25 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disturbs
  1. bothers
  2. removes
  3. disrupts
  4. weighs
  5. distracts
  6. relocates
  7. confuses
  8. troubles
Verb
  • And that’s something Lala calls him out on, which bothers him.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Resist that reflex long enough to understand what bothers you.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of bothers
Verb
  • Sunday says the victims should feel satisfied that this plea removes the possibility that Vereb could be found not guilty by a jury.
    — Tory Wegerski, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The Internet Archive removes recordings from the site when musicians ask, but hasn’t sought advance permission to share the music online.
    — Kevin McKeough, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of removes
Verb
  • Haidt argues that social media disrupts kids’ social and neurological development, contributing to rising anxiety and depression through sleep loss, fragmented attention, addiction, loneliness, social comparison and perfectionism.
    — Ari Lightman, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Washington’s policy “is more about visibility and narrative… than one that genuinely disrupts organized crime,â€� an expert told The Wall Street Journal.
    — Tasneem Nashrulla, semafor.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of disrupts
Verb
  • The single-seat aircraft weighs about 253 pounds with batteries and includes a ballistic parachute and an automatic landing function.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026
  • California weighs factors like time spent in the state and business ties when deciding who counts as a resident.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of weighs
Verb
  • Similarly, Sudan hopes that internal conflict in Ethiopia distracts Addis from its support of the rapid support forces militia in Sudan’s war.
    — Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
  • If a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars, the art inside an airport that reminds us of our humanity and distracts us from our fatigue is an object worthy of praise.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of distracts
Verb
  • Desperate to rebuild her life, Maya relocates to Alaska, where she is partnered with Detective Joanna Doyle (Winnick), an accomplished officer carrying the weight of her own devastating past.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026
  • But Resurrection is a return to form, as our genial serial killer relocates to New York after his now-adult son starts his own murder spree.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of relocates
Verb
  • The legal system dehumanizes her, the support group confuses her, and one of her friends painfully disappoints her.
    — Carey Purcell, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
  • This confuses each Nyota but also those around them, who note that the Nyotas have rather quickly assumed new hairstyles but also that neither is behaving quite like herself.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of confuses
Verb
  • But the equity market’s rise this year has been driven primarily by just a few sectors, which troubles some analysts.
    — Steve Kopack, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The aspect of the painting that troubles me most, though, is the sleeve of Amélie’s dress.
    — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of troubles

Browse Nearby Words

disturbingly
disturbs
disunion
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Cite this Entry

“Disturbs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disturbs. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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