disruptive

[ dis-ruhp-tiv ]

adjective

1. causing, tending to cause, or caused by disruption; disrupting:

   the disruptive effect of their rioting.

2. Business.
   1. relating to or noting a new product, service, or idea that radically changes an industry or business strategy, especially by creating a new market and disrupting an existing one:

      disruptive innovations such as the cell phone and the two-year community college.

   2. relating to or noting a business executive or company that introduces or is receptive to such innovation:

      disruptive CEOs with imagination and vision.

disruptive

/ dɪsˈrʌptɪv /

adjective

1. involving, causing, or tending to cause disruption

Derived Forms

• disˈruptively, adverb

Other Words From

• dis·ruptive·ly adverb
• dis·ruptive·ness noun
• nondis·ruptive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of disruptive¹

First recorded in 1835–45; disrupt + -ive

Example Sentences

In the past year since the directorate was launched, the NSA called out nation-state hackers, warned of new strains of disruptive malware and advised on how to patch or mitigate major vulnerabilities.

From TechCrunch

It might be a little less bright, but for all intents and purposes, it’s just as disruptive to astronomical observations—for potentially the entire night.

From MIT Technology Review

However, it could also be disruptive of the review economy in a very positive way.

From Search Engine Land

The pandemic’s disruptive force has spurred transformational change in our organization, as well as in many others.

From Fortune

Covid-19, however, has been disruptive enough to shake them up, and companies are trying to take advantage.

From Quartz

One of the most disruptive forces to the market in recent years is DISH.

From The Daily Beast

“I have a very disruptive personality for the industry,” he says.

From The Daily Beast

On the surface, In Situ appears less disruptive than its alternative, but this is only an illusion.

From The Daily Beast

Uber and Airbnb—the most successful services of their kind—are “disruptive” innovations.

From The Daily Beast

So she made changes that have transformed the Times online; is that what her critics mean when they allege she was disruptive?

From The Daily Beast

A flash of lightning is a disruptive electrical discharge upon a grand scale.

From Project Gutenberg

One cannot view with equanimity that which appears to be totally disruptive of one's dear little system of living.

From Project Gutenberg

By this difficult and dangerous process, the gunpowder is confined, and the disruptive effect produced.

From Project Gutenberg

It was all too ridiculous, the introducing of disruptive foreign substances into the bodies of little black men-folk.

From Project Gutenberg

Dynamic influences have a decisive effect upon cohesion and disruptive tensions.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• disturbing
• rowdy
• troublesome
• unruly
• upsetting