English Meaning & Definitions
Causing anxiety, uneasiness, or a feeling of being disturbed; unsettling things disrupt one's sense of calm or certainty.
- “The film featured an unsettling silence that lasted for several minutes.”
- “It is deeply unsettling to realize that you have been followed for the last three blocks.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “unsettling”.
Derived from the prefix 'un-' (expressing negation or reversal) + 'settle' (from Old English 'setlan', meaning to place or fix) + the suffix '-ing'. It originally referred to the physical act of disturbing something that was stable, evolving by the 19th century to describe psychological or emotional disturbance.
Think of a 'settled' room that has been turned upside down; it makes you feel uneasy because things are no longer where they belong.
Frequently Asked Questions About “unsettling”
1. What is the meaning of “unsettling” in English?
In English, unsettling (adjective) is defined as: “Causing anxiety, uneasiness, or a feeling of being disturbed; unsettling things disrupt one's sense of calm or certainty.”.
2. How do you use “unsettling” in a sentence?
“The film featured an unsettling silence that lasted for several minutes.”
3. What are English synonyms of “unsettling”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “unsettling”?
Derived from the prefix 'un-' (expressing negation or reversal) + 'settle' (from Old English 'setlan', meaning to place or fix) + the suffix '-ing'. It originally referred to the physical act of disturbing something that was stable, evolving by the 19th century to describe psychological or emotional disturbance.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
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A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.