upsetting

1 of 2

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

upsetting

2 of 2

present participle of upset entry 1

Synonyms of upsetting

Adjective

• disturbing
• unsettling
• troubling
• frightening

Examples of upsetting in a Sentence

Adjective

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Now, none of this excuses what Cathy does to poor, sweet, trusting Faye, whom Martha Plimpton plays with a chummy maternal quality that makes her grotesque demise that much more upsetting. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

The stakes will be plenty high as well, because the winner of this game will have an early inside track on making it to the Big 12 title game and potentially upsetting Texas Tech en route to a College Football Playoff berth. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Boutros did not dispute the allegations, saying the conduct was upsetting and the reason the case was being dismissed. — Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 25 Sep. 2026

There’s so much premeditation and passion into doing that, and to actually play that with no music and just the sound and the banality of a lifeless body being hit by some blunt instrument is very viscerally upsetting. — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1872, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for upsetting

• abetting
• begetting
• besetting
• bloodletting
• briquetting
• forgetting
• offsetting
• pipetting
• regretting
• resetting
• subletting
• typesetting