unsettle

UK/ʌnˈsɛtəl/US/ʌnˈsɛtəl/

verbC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,603 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: unsettled, unsettling, unsettles

To unsettle somebody is to make them uneasy. Nothing has gone wrong yet and something feels off.

The vagueness is the point, since being unsettled is a discomfort you cannot quite name, which is what separates it from frightening or upsetting somebody. It suits places, news and behaviour. The adjective unsettling describes the cause and unsettled the person, and unsettled also describes weather that cannot make up its mind, which is one of the most useful words in a British forecast.

Definitions of unsettle

1verbunsettleTo make somebody feel anxious or uneasy.C1
“The change of plan unsettled everybody.”

Where it comes from

From un- + settle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 38 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

unsettle in the wild

However, the raid was a clear victory for the French coalition that aimed to take captives and unsettle English colonial frontier society.
Raid on Deerfield
The volunteers also have to stay the night in their cells in complete darkness, while screams and shouts further unsettle the volunteers.
Shock Treatment (TV series)
Such characters reject authority and traditional moral standards, following their own unique code of ethics that can unsettle those around them.
Bad boy archetype
Tariq Ali described the band's sounds as "rough, radical music that should unsettle the rulers of this country.
The King Blues
Taking into consideration the principle of stare decisis, courts generally do not unsettle a decision, without a strong case.
Review petition

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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