upsetting

adjective

up·​set·​ting (ˌ)əp-ˈse-tiŋ 

: mentally or emotionally troubling or disturbing : causing feelings of worry or anxiety

heard some upsetting news

an upsetting experience

We're up to [a deficit of] $1.5 trillion a year …. These numbers are truly upsetting.

—Bill Gates

Professors issue, or students demand, trigger warnings when presenting material that might be upsetting to some: depictions of rape, sexism, racism, suicide.

—Yvonne Abraham

upsettingly adverb

an upsettingly graphic depiction of violence

In comparison to male historical figures, the number of women that we learn about throughout school is upsettingly low.

—Alexis Gardner

Synonyms

• discomforting
• discomposing
• disquieting
• distressing
• disturbing
• nagging
• nasty
• perturbing
• troublesome
• troubling
• troublous
• unsettling
• worrisome

Examples of upsetting in a Sentence

the constant arguing is upsetting to a sensitive person like your grandmother

Recent Examples on the Web

Their stories ranged from unsettling to upsetting—and many of them seemed to circle back to the same person. —Lindsay Lee Wallace, TIME, 18 Oct. 2024

Lanier rapes Forsythe during a job interview, which O’Brien recounts in upsetting, unwavering detail. —Jared Sullivan, The Atlantic, 17 Oct. 2024

In the wake of such viscerally upsetting controversies, celebrity crisis management 101 would tell you to take accountability, apologize, go dark, and wait. —Raven Smith, Vogue, 16 Oct. 2024

These medical scenes are among the most upsetting in the film — which says a lot. —Katie Rife, EW.com, 13 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above