What does perturbing mean?
Perturbing describes something that causes unease, worry, or a sense that normal conditions have been disturbed. Its strongest common use is emotional: a sound, discovery, event, or person may be described as perturbing when it unsettles those who encounter it. The adjective often implies an effect that is difficult to ignore or explain, rather than ordinary physical inconvenience. In scientific and technical contexts, “perturbing” has a broader meaning of disturbing a stable system or making a small change to it, as in a perturbation of the atmosphere or an orbit. The word comes from the Latin perturbare, meaning “to disturb,” and belongs to the same root as disturbance, perturbation, and turbulent. Perturbing is useful when describing influences that unsettle people or alter an expected equilibrium, though unsettling or troubling may sound more natural in many everyday contexts.
Causing worry, unease, or disturbance; unsettling.
"The sudden change in her manner was perturbing."
Commonly used for an influence, experience, or development that produces emotional unease.
The present participle of perturb, meaning to disturb, unsettle, or interfere with.
"The approaching storm was perturbing the delicate instruments."
Usually encountered as the present participle in a progressive construction or as an adjective.
Perturbing enters English from the Latin perturbare, literally “to disturb,” the same root that gave us turbulence and the disturbance of a calm planet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does perturbing come from?
Perturbing is the present participle of perturb and derives from Latin perturbare, meaning “to disturb” or “to disrupt.” Latin perturbare was formed from per- and turbare, the latter meaning “to agitate” and giving rise to turbulent and turbulence. The same Latin root also underlies disturbance and perturbation, which preserve the idea of disruption or instability.
Related word forms
How perturbing is actually used
The adjective is most often used for something that causes emotional unease, but it can also have a technical sense in which it means causing a disturbance in a system, condition, or expected state.
Easily confused with perturbing
Perturbing means causing unease or disturbance, whereas perverting means twisting something from its proper meaning, nature, or course.