Adjacent Words

Perturbation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PERTURBA'TION, n. [L. perturbatio.]
1. Disquiet or agitation of mind.
2. Restlessness of passions; great uneasiness.
3. Disturbance; disorder; commotion in public affairs.
4. Disturbance of passions; commotion of spirit.
5. Cause of disquiet.
O polished perturbation, golden care!

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an unhappy and worried mental state; "there was too much anger and disturbance"; "she didn't realize the upset she caused me" [syn: disturbance, perturbation, upset]
2: (physics) a secondary influence on a system that causes it to deviate slightly
3: activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption; "the term `distress' connotes some degree of perturbation and emotional upset"; "he looked around for the source of the disturbance"; "there was a disturbance of neural function" [syn: perturbation, disturbance]
4: a disposition that is confused or nervous and upset [syn: perturbation, fluster]
5: the act of causing disorder [syn: disruption, perturbation]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century 1. the action of perturbing ; the state of being perturbed 2. a disturbance of motion, course, arrangement, or state of equilibrium; especially a disturbance of the regular and usually elliptical course of motion of a celestial body that is produced by some force additional to that which causes its regular motion • perturbational adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or an instance of perturbing; the state of being perturbed. 2 a cause of disturbance or agitation. 3 Physics a slight alteration of a physical system, e.g. of the electrons in an atom, caused by a secondary influence. 4 Astron. a minor deviation in the course of a celestial body, caused by the attraction of a neighbouring body.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perturbation Per`tur*ba"tion, n. [L. perturbatio: cf. F. perturbation.] 1. The act of perturbing, or the state of being perturbed; esp., agitation of mind. 2. (Astron.) A disturbance in the regular elliptic or other motion of a heavenly body, produced by some force additional to that which causes its regular motion; as, the perturbations of the planets are caused by their attraction on each other. --Newcomb.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(perturbations) 1. A perturbation is a small change in the movement, quality, or behaviour of something, especially an unusual change. (TECHNICAL) ...perturbations in Jupiter's gravitational field. N-VAR 2. Perturbation is worry caused by some event. (FORMAL) This message caused perturbation in the Middle East Headquarters. = alarm

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Disturbance, disorder, confusion, commotion. 2. Agitation, trepidation, disquiet, uneasiness, excitement, discomposure, worry, vexation, restlessness, commotion. 3. Cause of disquiet.

Moby Thesaurus

ado, aggravation, agitation, all-overs, angst, animation, anxiety, anxiety hysteria, anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat, anxiousness, apprehension, apprehensiveness, arousal, arousing, baffle, bafflement, befuddlement, bewilderment, bluster, bobbery, boil, boiling, bother, botheration, brouhaha, bustle, cankerworm of care, care, chaos, chills of fear, churn, cloud, cold creeps, cold shivers, cold sweat, commotion, concern, concernment, confoundment, confusion, conturbation, convulsion, creeps, daze, derangement, dilemma, disarrangement, disarray, disarticulation, discombobulation, discomfiture, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, disharmony, dishevelment, disintegration, disjunction, dislocation, disorder, disorderliness, disorganization, disorientation, disproportion, disquiet, disquietude, disruption, distress, disturbance, dread, ebullience, ebullition, eddy, effervescence, electrification, embarrassment, embroilment, enigma, entropy, exacerbation, exasperation, excitation, excitement, exhilaration, fear, fear and trembling, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, fever, feverishness, fidgets, fix, flap, flummox, flurry, fluster, flutter, flutteration, fog, foment, fomentation, foreboding, forebodingness, frenzy, fuddle, fuddlement, fume, fuss, galvanization, goose bumps, gooseflesh, haphazardness, haze, heartquake, horripilation, hubbub, hurly-burly, hurry, hurry-scurry, incitement, incoherence, indiscriminateness, inflammation, infuriation, inharmonious harmony, inquietude, insanity, irregularity, irritation, jam, jimjams, jitters, jumble, jumpiness, lathering up, maelstrom, malaise, maze, mess, misarrangement, misgiving, mist, moil, most admired disorder, muddle, muddlement, mystery, nerviness, nervous tension, nervousness, nonplus, nonsymmetry, nonuniformity, overanxiety, palpitation, pell-mell, perplexity, pickle, pins and needles, plight, pother, predicament, problem, promiscuity, promiscuousness, provocation, pucker, puzzle, puzzlement, quaking, quandary, quiver of terror, randomness, restlessness, riddle, roil, rout, row, ruffle, scrape, seethe, seething, shivers, shuffle, shuffling, solicitude, steaming up, stew, stimulation, stimulus, stir, stirring, stirring up, strain, suspense, sweat, swirl, swirling, swivet, tension, thrill of fear, tizzy, to-do, trepidation, trepidity, trouble, tumult, tumultuation, turbidity, turbulence, turmoil, twitter, unassuredness, unease, uneasiness, unquietness, unrest, unsettlement, unsymmetry, ununiformity, uproar, upset, vexation, vortex, whipping up, whirl, working up, yeastiness, zeal