perturbed; perturbing; perturbs
1
2
: to throw into confusion : disorder
perturbing the social order
3
: to cause to experience a perturbation see perturbation sense 2
Newton finally realized that the planetary orbits would be only approximate ellipses, for the mutual attractions of the planets would perturb their paths.—
Owen Gingerich
Owen Gingerich
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With its per- prefix, perturb meant originally "thoroughly upset", though today the word has lost most of its intense edge. Perturb and perturbation are often used by scientists, usually when speaking of a change in their data indicating that something has affected some normal process. When someone is referred to as imperturbable, it means he or she manages to remain calm through the most trying experiences.
Synonyms
Examples of perturb in a Sentence
It perturbed him that his son was thinking about leaving school.
the caller's strange remark perturbed me enough to keep me awake that night
Recent Examples on the Web
Cutting a long story short, a vocal minority of reactionary gamers is perturbed that a sci-fi video game features a Black samurai protagonist, despite the game’s hokey premise centering on the genetic recording of memories written to computer software.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025
Eventually, rescuers located the plane, as well as an unharmed (though understandably perturbed) Jackie.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
The early instability model in which the early inner solar system was basically such a chaotic, orbital mess that the building blocks for rocky planets beyond the orbit of earth and Venus were too perturbed to coalesce into any larger than Mars.
—Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
Centaurs are thought to have originated out in the frozen realm beyond Neptune, but later moved in-system after their orbits were perturbed by gravitational resonances with the ice giant.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 23 Dec. 2024
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Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025
Eventually, rescuers located the plane, as well as an unharmed (though understandably perturbed) Jackie.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
The early instability model in which the early inner solar system was basically such a chaotic, orbital mess that the building blocks for rocky planets beyond the orbit of earth and Venus were too perturbed to coalesce into any larger than Mars.
—Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
Centaurs are thought to have originated out in the frozen realm beyond Neptune, but later moved in-system after their orbits were perturbed by gravitational resonances with the ice giant.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 23 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for perturb
Dictionary Entries Near perturb
Cite this Entry
“Perturb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perturb. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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