unsettling

Language: en

🇺🇸 /əˈnsɛtəlɪŋ/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Causing anxiety, unease, or disturbance; disquieting or troubling in a way that disrupts one's sense of comfort or stability.; Tending to disturb or disrupt a settled state, condition, or arrangement; destabilizing.
  2. verb
    Present participle of 'unsettle'; the act of causing someone to feel anxious, disturbed, or uneasy.; Present participle of 'unsettle'; the act of disrupting or disturbing a settled order, arrangement, or state of affairs.; Present participle of 'unsettle'; the act of causing something to become physically unstable or dislodged from a fixed position.

🔗 Details

Word forms

Comparative: more unsettling Superlative: most unsettling

Collocations

deeply unsettlingrather unsettlingunsettling experienceunsettling feelingunsettling truthfind unsettling

Derivatives

unsettleunsettledunsettlementunsettlingly

Synonyms

disturbingdisquietingunnervingtroublingdisconcertingperturbing

Antonyms

reassuringcomfortingcalmingsoothing

Commonly confused

unsettled
EN: 'Unsettled' describes the person feeling uneasy (passive sense), while 'unsettling' describes the thing causing the unease (active sense).
unstable
EN: 'Unstable' means lacking stability or likely to change/collapse; 'unsettling' means causing emotional discomfort or anxiety.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the double 't' in 'unsettling' (from 'unsettle'). Do not write 'unsetling'.

💬 Examples

  1. The unsettling silence in the abandoned house made her skin crawl.

  2. The unsettling news of the company's restructuring left employees worried about their futures.

  3. The strange noises from the attic were unsettling the children.

  4. The new policies are unsettling the established trade agreements between the two nations.

  5. The earthquake was unsettling the foundations of several old buildings in the district.