disconcerting
/ˌdɪskənˈsɜːtɪŋ/
disconcerting means tending to cause discomfort, uneasiness or alarm. It carries an Arena rating of 1589, earned across 19 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, disconcerting ranks #1,425 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,861 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,944 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,575 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
disconcerting is pronounced /ˌdɪskənˈsɜːtɪŋ/.
Why “disconcerting” is a great word
Causing a feeling of unease, confusion, or emotional disturbance. From the obsolete French verb *disconcerter* (to unsettle, to confuse), itself an alteration of Middle French *desconcerter*, from *des-* ("apart, away") + *concerter* ("to bring into agreement, to arrange"), first attested in English in the mid-18th century. Unlike "concerning," which merely warrants attention, or "unsettling," which broadly disturbs stability, *disconcerting* specifically unravels one's mental composure. It is the silence that follows a misplaced laugh, the cognitive dissonance of a trusted face wearing an alien expression, or the profound wrongness of a clock's second hand twitching in place—the subtle, vertiginous proof that the order we rely upon is a fragile and provisional agreement.
Etymology
From disconcert + -ing.
adj
- Tending to cause discomfort, uneasiness or alarm.e.g.“Even with a safety harness, losing one's grip that high up is disconcerting.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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