unrest
/ʌnˈɹɛst/
unrest noun: a state of trouble, confusion and turbulence, especially in a political context; a time of riots, demonstrations and protests.
Noun
unrest (usually uncountable, plural unrests)
- A state of trouble, confusion and turbulence, especially in a political context; a time of riots, demonstrations and protests.
- What words are these have fall’n from me?
Can calm despair and wild unrest
Be tenants of a single breast,
Or sorrow such a changeling be?1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XVI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 26 - Few expect the unrest to stop anytime soon. The government may hope to outflank the protest movement by painting them as unwilling to accept compromise, but even some of Lam’s allies have publicly said that the withdrawal was too little, too late.2019 September 4, James Griffith, “Hong Kong government’s attempt to outflank protesters is doomed to fail”, in CNN
- What words are these have fall’n from me?
- Something that troubles or confuses; that which causes unrest.
- In her pyjamas, Sadie turned back the bedclothes to a single sheet, and settled down under it with a sigh of content; the languors of a body untroubled by mental unrests were a reward for the day's exertions.1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 8
unrest meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
unrest in Hindi
- unrest, turmoil, chaos
- अशांति aśānti
unrest in Tamil
- கலவரம், அமைதியின்மை, உலைவு, குழப்பம், கொந்தளிப்பு, மனக்குழப்பம்
unrest in Marathi
- अशांतता
unrest in Urdu
- بدامنی
More languagesFewer languages
- unrest in Bengali
- অশান্তি
- unrest in Telugu
- అశాంతి
- unrest in Malayalam
- അസ്വസ്ഥത, ഉത്കണ്ഠ, ഉറക്കമില്ലായ്മ
- unrest in Kannada
- ಅಶಾಂತಿ, ಕ್ಷೋಭೆ, ತುಮುಲ, ಗೊಂದಲ
- unrest in Punjabi
- ਅਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ
- unrest in Gujarati
- અશાંતિ
- unrest in Odia
- ଅଶାନ୍ତି
- unrest in Nepali
- अशांति, अशान्ति
- unrest in Persian
- بلوا balvâ
Examples of unrest in a sentence
- They tried to colour the industrial unrest as a merely local matter.
- Foreign governments have tried to foment unrest.
- The political reforms excited unrest among the population.
Forms of unrest
| plural | unrests |
|---|
Origin of unrest
From Middle English unreste, equivalent to un- + rest. Cognate with West Frisian ûnrêst (“unrest”), Dutch onrust (“unrest”), German Low German Unrüst (“unrest”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Uunraue (“unrest”), German Unruhe (“unrest”), Danish uro (“unrest”), Swedish oro (“unrest”), Icelandic órói (“unrest”). Compare also Old English orrest (“battle”), Old Norse orrosta, orresta (“battle”).
Words formed from unrest
- civil unrest
Words that rhyme with unrest
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- attest
- guest
- quest
- bequest
- distressed
- pest
- prest
- request
- revest
- west
- wrest
- zest
- contest
- depressed
- dressed
- gest
- impressed
- jest
- suggest
- acid test
- best
- celeste
- divest
- ingest
- molest
- North West
- northwest
- possessed
- pressed
- professed
- southwest
- -cest
- addressed
- behest
- compressed
- congest
- detest
- fest
- infest
- lest
- obsessed
- pretest
- processed
- repressed
- rest.
- stressed
- tressed
- unstressed
Questions about unrest
- What does unrest mean?
- Unrest means a state of trouble, confusion and turbulence, especially in a political context; a time of riots, demonstrations and protests.
- What is unrest in Hindi?
- Unrest in Hindi is अशांति (aśānti). See Unrest meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is unrest?
- Unrest is a noun.
- How do you pronounce unrest?
- Unrest is pronounced /ʌnˈɹɛst/.
- What is the plural of unrest?
- The plural of unrest is unrests.
Words near unrest in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: unrest (page history and authors); अशांति (Hindi) (page history and authors); unrest (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); unrest (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unrest (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unrest (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unrest (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unrest (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); unrest (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); unrest (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unrest (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unrest (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unrest (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-unrest.ogg.
Cite this entry: “unrest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unrest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.