Meaning & use
perturbed
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Meaning
adjectiveafter a verb
Worried, unsettled, or bothered by something, usually without panic.
Grammar: Usually predicative: 'be/feel/seem perturbed by something'; before-noun use is uncommon.
Patterns
- be perturbed by something
- be perturbed about something
- seem/feel perturbed
She was perturbed by the sudden change in his tone.
Investors seemed perturbed about the weak sales figures.
He appeared calm, though privately perturbed.
Common combinations
- perturbed by something
- The staff were perturbed by the lack of information.
- perturbed about something
- He grew perturbed about the delay.
- deeply/visibly perturbed
- She was visibly perturbed during the interview.
- remain/appear perturbed
- The manager appeared perturbed but stayed polite.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bothered
- Bothered is more informal and everyday; perturbed sounds more formal and controlled.
- disturbed
- Disturbed can be stronger or relate to emotional upset; perturbed suggests unease about a cause.
- uneasy
- Uneasy describes a general feeling of worry; perturbed often names a reaction to a specific cause.
Opposites
Word family
- perturb verb
- To make someone worried or unsettled: The rumor perturbed the staff.
- perturbation noun
- A cause or state of disturbance; also technical in physics and astronomy.
Commonly confused: perturbed or disturbed?
perturbed vs disturbed
Both mean upset, but disturbed can suggest deeper emotional trouble, while perturbed is usually milder and tied to a cause.
Practice
Choose the best completion: 'Officials were _____ by the missing records.'
Choose one answer.
A cause makes people worried, so 'perturbed by' is correct. Bashful describes shyness, ancillary means supporting, and salaries is a noun plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “perturbed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.