MEANING
To disturb someone’s sense of ease, certainty, or security.
Use it for
slow erosion of security; ambiguous disturbanceAllow fear to begin as lost equilibrium rather than a named emotion.
Words that belong together
- unsettle a community
- deeply unsettling
- unsettled by a warning
On the page
The unexplained footsteps unsettled her.
Rumors of a closure unsettled the whole village.
What unsettled him was how readily everyone accepted the locked exits.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- unsettle / unsettles
- Past tense
- unsettled
- Past participle
- unsettled
- Present participle
- unsettling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- unsettle / unsettles
- Present continuous
- am/is/are unsettling
- Present perfect
- have/has unsettled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been unsettling
- Past
- unsettled
- Past continuous
- was/were unsettling
- Past perfect
- had unsettled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been unsettling
- Future
- will unsettle / unsettles
- Future continuous
- will be unsettling
- Future perfect
- will have unsettled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been unsettling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: fear. Often milder and less abrupt than unnerve; can produce uncertainty rather than explicit fear. Other senses concern arrangements or settled conditions. Verb forms (base, third-person singular, past, past participle, -ing): unsettle, unsettles, unsettled, unsettled, unsettling.
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