perturb
Syllables: per·turbUK/pəˈtɜːb//pəɹˈtɜɹb/
perturb verb: to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed; to cause confusion.
Verb
perturb (third-person singular simple present perturbs, present participle perturbing, simple past and past participle perturbed)
- To cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed; to cause confusion.
- Mary therefore the more knaue art thou I ſay / That perturbeſt the worde of god I ſay […]a. 1521 (date written), [John Heywood], A Mery Play betwene the Pardoner and the Frere, the Curate and Neybour Pratte, London: […] Wyllyam Rastell, published 15 April 1533 (Gregorian calendar)...
- The Nobles ſtandyng by hearyng him thus ſpeake were greatly agreeued with him, notyng in him arrogancy and wilfulneſſe, in perturbyng and refuſyng ſuch an honeſt order of agreement: […]1569, Richard Grafton, “Henry the Seconde”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye...
- To disturb (someone, their mind, etc.) mentally; to bother, trouble, upset.
- […] I have often found / The truth thereof, in my private paſſions: / For I doe never feele my ſelfe perturb'd / VVith any generall vvords 'gainſt my profeſſion, / They doe avvake, and ſtirre me: […]1632 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio)...
- He remembered how, […] his childish imagination was perturbed at a phenomenon, for which he could not account.1826, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and...
- Synonyms:
- agitate, distress, unsettle, freak, sting, bother, bring down, discompose, unstring, disconcert
- Of a celestial body: to modify the motion or orbit of (another celestial body) by exerting a gravitational force; hence (physics), to slightly modify (the motion of an object).
- To slightly modify (a set of equations or their solutions), producing deviations from a simple, easily solvable problem, in order to find an approximate solution to a problem that is more difficult to solve or otherwise unsolvable.
- To influence (a process or system) so that it deviates from its normal state.
- To bother, to disturb, to trouble.
- Thy ghoſt O father ſweete, thy greuous ghoſt, / Perturbing in my dremes hath me compeld to ſee this coaſt.1557 August 23 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Virgil, “The Syxt Booke”, in Thomas Phaer, transl., The Seuen First Bookes of the Eneidos of Virgill, Conuerted in Englishe Meter […], London: […]...
- This growth original of virgin soil, / By fascination felt in opposites, / Pleases and shocks, entices and perturbs.1869 December (indicated as 1870 January), James Russell Lowell, “The Cathedral”, in James Thomas Fields, editor, The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume...
- Synonyms:
- agitate
perturb meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
perturb in Tamil
- தொல்லைகொடு, மனக்கலக்கஞ்செய்
perturb in Bengali
- আকুল করা, বিচলিত করা, উদ্বিগ্ন করা
perturb in Malayalam
- ഉലയ്ക്കുക, പരിഭ്രമിക്കുക, കുഴപ്പമുണ്ടാക്കുക, കലക്കുക
perturb in Kannada
- to perturb or confuse
- ಕದಡು kadaḍu
More languagesFewer languages
- perturb in Persian
- ناراحت کردن nârâhat kardan
Examples of perturb in a sentence
- [T]hou perturbest my place; / Takest from me the country of my forefathers; […]1881, Abū Muẖammad bin Yusuf bin Mu,ayyid-i-Niz̤āmu-’d-Dīn [i.e., Nizami Ganjavi], “Canto XXVIII. Sikandar’s Written Reply to Dara.”, in...
- For here it is not any natural desire that perturbeth the mind, but it ariseth from wilful negligence.1848, John Chrysostom, “Homily XXIII. 2 Cor[inthians] xi. 1.”, in J. Ashworth, transl., edited by J. F. Christie, The Homilies of S. John...
- "Did he seem to you much perturbed?" / "Mr.1922 February–March, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Problem of Thor Bridge”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi]...
Synonyms of perturb
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of perturb
| third-person singular present | perturbs |
|---|---|
| present participle | perturbing |
| past participle | perturbed |
| past | perturbed |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | perturbest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | perturbedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | perturbeth |
Origin of perturb
From Late Middle English perturben (“to disturb (someone) mentally, disquiet; to cause disorder to (something), confuse; to hinder (something)”), from Old French perturber, and from its etymon Latin perturbāre, the present active infinitive of perturbō (“to confuse; to alarm, disturb, trouble, perturb”), from per- (intensifying prefix) + turbō (“to agitate, disturb, unsettle, perturb; to upset”) (from turba (“disorder, disturbance, turmoil”) (possibly from Ancient Greek τῠ́ρβη (tŭ́rbē, “confusion, disorder, tumult”), either from Pre-Greek, or Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to urge on, propel”)) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of regular first-conjugation verbs)).
Words formed from perturb
Words that rhyme with perturb
Questions about perturb
- What does perturb mean?
- Perturb means to cause (something) to be physically disordered or disturbed; to cause confusion.
- What is perturb in Tamil?
- Perturb in Tamil is தொல்லைகொடு, மனக்கலக்கஞ்செய். See Perturb meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use perturb in a sentence?
- [T]hou perturbest my place; / Takest from me the country of my forefathers; […]
- What part of speech is perturb?
- Perturb is a verb.
- How do you pronounce perturb?
- Perturb is pronounced /pəˈtɜːb/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of perturb?
- The past tense of perturb is perturbed.
Words near perturb in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: perturb (page history and authors); perturb (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perturb (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perturb (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಕದಡು (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-perturb.ogg.
Cite this entry: “perturb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perturb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.