What is the meaning of perturbing?

verb

  • Disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed.
    • usage: "She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill"
  • Disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or atom.
    • usage: "The electrons were perturbed by the passing ion"
  • Cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed or extraordinary gravitational pull.
    • usage: "The orbits of these stars were perturbed by the passings of a comet"
  • Throw into great confusion or disorder.
    • usage: "Fundamental Islamicists threaten to perturb the social order in Algeria and Egypt"

adjective

  • Causing distress or worry or anxiety.
    • usage: "distressing (or disturbing) news"; "lived in heroic if something distressful isolation"; "a disturbing amount of crime"; "a revelation that was most perturbing"; "a new and troubling thought"; "in a particularly worrisome predicament"; "a worrying situation"; "a worrying time"
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APAWordNet. (2010). perturbing. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/perturbing/definitions/1180653
ChicagoWordNet. 2010. "perturbing" http://smartdefine.org/perturbing/definitions/1180653 (accessed September 20, 2026).
HarvardWordNet 2010, perturbing, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/perturbing/definitions/1180653>.
MLAWordNet. "perturbing" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/perturbing/definitions/1180653>