Meaning & use

disturb

verb·Everyday

To interrupt someone's activity, rest, or peace, or to move something from its settled state.

See it in a sentence

Please do not disturb the guests resting in rooms along this corridor.

The scandal disturbed the usually quiet routine of the small mountain town.

A note on using this word

'Do not disturb,' seen on hotel doors, shows disturb's common sense of interrupting rest or privacy.

Words with a similar meaning

interruptunsettle

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

Words with an opposite meaning

calmsoothe

Make it your own

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