disturb
/dɪˈstɝb/verb
disturb is spelled D-I-S-T-U-R-B: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.6 times per million words in written English, the 13,695th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, disturb means “to confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow, in particular: thoughts, actions or liquids” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in disturb?
| Letters | 7: D-I-S-T-U-R-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.6 times per million words; the 13,695th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is disturb?
Disturb appears 3.6 times per million words in written English, the 13,695th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce disturb?
- UK /dɪˈstɜːb/
- US /dɪˈstɝb/
- /ɖɪsˈʈɜ(r)b/
Disturb has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-disturb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with disturb?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as disturb from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹb/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of disturb
- disturbs present, singular, he/she/it
- disturbing participle, present
- disturbed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does disturb mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
to confuse a quiet, constant state or a calm, continuous flow, in particular: thoughts, actions or liquids.
The noisy ventilation disturbed me during the exam.
- 2
to divert, redirect, or alter by disturbing.
A mudslide disturbed the course of the river.
- 3
to have a negative emotional impact; to cause emotional distress or confusion.
noun
- 1
obsoletedisturbance
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Disturb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense confuse or irritate:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | déranger, perturber, gêner |
| German | stören |
| Portuguese | perturbar |
| Spanish | molestar, disturbar, conturbar, estorbar, importunar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does disturb come from?
From Middle English destourben, from Anglo-Norman distourber and Old French destorber, from Latin disturbare, intensifying for turbare (“to throw into disorder”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH-, *(s)turH- (“to rotate, swirl, twirl, move around”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).