Library / English Dictionary

DISCONCERT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to lose one's composure

Synonyms:

discomfit; discompose; disconcert; untune; upset

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "disconcert" is one way to...):

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disconcert"):

enervate; faze; unnerve; unsettle (disturb the composure of)

dissolve (cause to lose control emotionally)

inhibit (make (someone) self-conscious and as a result unable to act naturally)

bemuse; bewilder; discombobulate; throw (cause to be confused emotionally)

abash; embarrass (cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious)

anguish; hurt; pain (cause emotional anguish or make miserable)

afflict (cause great unhappiness for; distress)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to disconcert Sue

Derivation:

disconcertion; disconcertment (anxious embarrassment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to feel embarrassment

Example:

The constant attention of the young man confused her

Synonyms:

confuse; disconcert; flurry; put off

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "disconcert" is one way to...):

abash; embarrass (cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious)

Verb group:

bedevil; befuddle; confound; confuse; discombobulate; fox; fuddle; throw (be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disconcert"):

fluster (cause to be nervous or upset)

bother (make confused or perplexed or puzzled)

deflect; distract (draw someone's attention away from something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will disconcert him

Derivation:

disconcertion; disconcertment (anxious embarrassment)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"I think them, well, very disconcerting," she replied.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Mary, though pretending not to hear, was somewhat disconcerted; and Elizabeth, sorry for her, and sorry for her father's speech, was afraid her anxiety had done no good.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Another disconcerting thing was that it made no outcry, such as he had been accustomed to with the other dogs he had fought.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The Tilneys called for her at the appointed time; and no new difficulty arising, no sudden recollection, no unexpected summons, no impertinent intrusion to disconcert their measures, my heroine was most unnaturally able to fulfil her engagement, though it was made with the hero himself.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

It was a little disconcerting to me, to find, when I was being helped up behind the coach, that I was supposed to have eaten all the dinner without any assistance.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Martin had encountered his sister Gertrude by chance on Broadway—as it proved, a most propitious yet disconcerting chance.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Catherine was disconcerted, and made no answer; but Lydia, with perfect indifference, continued to express her admiration of Captain Carter, and her hope of seeing him in the course of the day, as he was going the next morning to London.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

When Dora was very childish, and I would have infinitely preferred to humour her, I tried to be grave—and disconcerted her, and myself too.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Just as Ruth's face, in a momentary jealousy had called before his eyes a forgotten moonlight gale, and as Professor Caldwell made him see again the Northeast Trade herding the white billows across the purple sea, so, from moment to moment, not disconcerting but rather identifying and classifying, new memory-visions rose before him, or spread under his eyelids, or were thrown upon the screen of his consciousness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Before you come to that, said Traddles, a little disconcerted, I am afraid I thought it discreet to omit (not being able to carry everything before me) two points, in making this lawless adjustment—for it's perfectly lawless from beginning to end—of a difficult affair.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)