perturb

IPA/pəˈtɜːb/
KK[pɚtˈɚb]IPA/pərˈtɜːrb/

perturb — verb

  • perturbpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • perturbshe / she / it
  • perturbedpast simple
  • perturbing-ing form

1. to make someone feel uneasy or mentally unsettled after something troubling or u

1.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to make someone feel uneasy or mentally unsettled after something troubling or unexpected happens.

Example

The letter from the hospital perturbed Valentina for the rest of the day.

perturb + person after troubling news

News that the school bus was late perturbed Feng and the other parents.

Common collocations
  • deeply perturb someone
  • perturb parents
  • perturb the public
  • perturb investors
Synonyms
  • unsettle

    slightly more common, often for making someone feel unsure or nervous

  • disturb

    broader and less formal, can be emotional or physical

  • distress

    stronger, suggesting deeper emotional pain

Antonyms
  • calm

    to make someone feel less worried or tense

  • reassure

    to remove someone's worry by giving comfort or certainty

Grammar Patterns

perturb + noun/pronoun

deeply perturb + person

Usage Note

Usually used in careful or formal English. The object is typically a person or group that becomes worried or emotionally unsettled, unlike sense 2, which usually affects a system, routine, or balance.

Common Mistakes

She perturbed after the phone call.
She was perturbed after the phone call.' or 'The phone call perturbed her.
perturb is normally transitive; the adjective is perturbed.
The joke perturbed funny.
The joke was funny but it perturbed her.
perturb describes the effect on a person, not the quality of the event.

2. to disturb the normal order of something so that it no longer runs in a steady o

2.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to disturb the normal order of something so that it no longer runs in a steady or organized way.

Example

A power cut perturbed the lab schedule for the entire morning.

perturb + schedule/routine

The surprise audit perturbed the office routine and delayed every shipment.

Common collocations
  • perturb the balance
  • perturb the routine
  • perturb the schedule
  • perturb the system
Synonyms
  • disrupt

    more common, especially for interrupting a process or schedule

  • disturb

    broader and often milder, with less emphasis on overall disorder

  • derange

    much rarer and more literary, stressing loss of order

Antonyms
  • stabilize

    to make something steady again

  • restore

    to bring a system or order back to its earlier state

Grammar Patterns

perturb + system/routine/schedule

perturb + balance/order

Usage Note

This sense usually takes an arrangement, process, balance, or organized activity as its object. It is more about disordering a system than making a person anxious, which belongs to sense 1.

Common Mistakes

The broken printer perturbed on the staff.
The broken printer perturbed the office routine.
this sense takes the disrupted system or arrangement as its object.
The traffic perturbed me late.
The traffic delayed me.' or 'The traffic perturbed the parade route.
use this sense for disordering an organized process, not simply arriving late.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Perturb, unsettle, upset, and disturb can all describe causing unease, but they differ in tone and intensity. Perturb is the most formal and often appears in careful writing when something troubles a person's mind or emotions. Unsettle is a little more common and suggests making someone feel unsure, nervous, or less steady. Upset is the everyday choice for emotional hurt or worry after bad news or an unpleasant event. Disturb is the broadest word: it can describe emotional discomfort, interrupted peace, or physical interference. If you want a formal word for quietly troubling someone, perturb fits best. For ordinary conversation, upset or unsettle will usually sound more natural.

perturb ↗unsettle ↗upset ↗disturb ↗

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Perturb comes from Latin perturbare, built from per-, meaning 'thoroughly', and turbare, meaning 'to disturb or throw into confusion'. It reached English through Old French in the Middle Ages. The older idea was to throw something out of order, and from that sense English later developed the emotional meaning of making a person feel uneasy or troubled.

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1