Meaning & use
disruptor
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person or thing that interrupts an event, activity, or process.
Grammar: Countable; plural is disruptors. Often used with 'a' or 'the'.
Patterns
- a disruptor of something
- act as a disruptor
The loud disruptor was asked to leave the meeting.
A power failure was the main disruptor of the online exam.
She was seen as a disruptor because she constantly questioned the rules.
nouncountablebusiness
A company or innovation that dramatically changes an established industry or market.
Grammar: Common in business contexts; often used with 'market' or 'industry'.
Patterns
- a disruptor in an industry
- a market disruptor
- a technology disruptor
Netflix was a major disruptor in the video rental industry.
The startup aims to be a disruptor in the banking sector.
Electric vehicles have become a disruptor for traditional car manufacturers.
Word forms
| plural | disruptors |
|---|
Common combinations
- a disruptor in the industry
- The company quickly became a disruptor in the smartphone industry.
- market disruptor
- Analysts called the new app a market disruptor.
- digital disruptor
- Digital disruptors are forcing traditional banks to change their services.
- act as a disruptor
- The new law acted as a disruptor, changing how businesses operate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disrupter
- An older spelling of the same word; both are accepted, but 'disruptor' is now more common in business writing.
- innovator
- Focuses on creating something new; a disruptor specifically challenges or overturns existing markets or systems.
- troublemaker
- A person who causes problems, often deliberately; disruptor is more neutral and can refer to companies or technologies.
Opposites
Word family
- disrupt verb
- To interrupt or disturb.
- disruption noun
- An act or instance of interrupting.
- disruptive adjective
- Causing disruption.
- disruptively adverb
- In a disruptive manner.
- disruptiveness noun
- The quality of being disruptive.
Commonly confused: disruptor or disruption? disruptor or disrupter?
disruptor vs disruption
Disruption is the event or process; a disruptor is the person or thing that causes it.
disruptor vs disrupter
Same meaning, different spelling. 'Disruptor' is more common in modern business contexts.
Practice
Many consider the smartphone a ________ because it changed how we communicate, shop, and work.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun for a thing that causes change, so 'disruptor' is correct. 'Disruptive' is an adjective and cannot be the object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disruptor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.