disturb
verb
Simple meaning
To confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihsturbSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪsˈtɝb
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow, in particular: thoughts, actions or liquids.
intransitive
To have a negative emotional impact; to cause emotional distress or confusion.
transitive
To divert, redirect, or alter by disturbing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow, in particular: thoughts, actions or liquids.
Used this way, disturb is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It keeps things gentle rather than emphatic.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Calm and reassuring
- Usage feel
- Understated and gentle
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use disturb
- “Don't disturb the patient's wounds by moving him too rapidly!”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.