Meaning & use

disruptive

adjective·Academic

Causing disturbance or interruption to a normal process, system, or order.

See it in a sentence

The teacher moved the disruptive student to a seat near the front of the class.

Streaming services were a disruptive force that transformed the entertainment industry.

A note on using this word

In business, disruptive often has a positive spin, describing an innovation that reshapes an entire industry.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

orderlystabilizing

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