Basic+ Word of the Day: disturb

disturb (verb) past tense: disturbed

Disturb means ‘to interrupt the quiet of’ or ‘to bother.’

• I hate to disturb you while you are sleeping, but your mother is on the phone.
• Frank's boss shuts the door when she does not want to be disturbed.
• The teenagers disturbed the pastor's sermon by laughing.

Disturb also means ‘to interfer with’ or ‘to hinder.’

• The rainy weather disturbed our plans to go trick or treating on Halloween.

Disturb can also mean ‘to cause worry.’

• Taylor's parents were disturbed by her poor grades in history.
• The recent thefts disturbed everyone in the neighborhood.

Common uses

disturbing the peace: a minor crime that involves making a lot of noise, especially at night, or fighting. Example: “The drunken men were arrest for disturbing the peace.”

Related words

disturbed: having symptoms of mental illness. Example: “Many disturbed children have mental illness in their families.”

In pop culture

Imagine if you lived next door to the Addams family. Would you think they were disturbed? Watch the trailer for the 1991 movie.

There are other meanings of disturb.