Troubling

How to spell troubling

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce troubling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does troubling mean?

1. adjectiveCausing worry, concern, or distress.
2. verbPresent participle of trouble: disturbing, worrying, or inconveniencing someone.

Troubling in a sentence

• adjective

  The audit revealed a troubling pattern of missing receipts.

• verb

  The constant noise from the street was troubling him all evening.

• adjective

  There was something deeply troubling about the empty house.

• verb

  A nagging cough had been troubling her for weeks.

Where does troubling come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Latin turbula, a diminutive of turba meaning 'a crowd, a commotion, or an uproar', which itself produced the verb turbidare, 'to stir up or make disorderly'. By the time it reached Old French it had become trubler or torbler, meaning 'to disturb, agitate, or muddy', and English borrowed the verb 'trouble' in the 1200s with the sense of stirring up distress or confusion. The form 'troubling' is the present participle, which over time hardened into an adjective describing anything that unsettles the mind. The same turba root sits inside everyday words like 'turbulence' and 'disturb', a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the single 'b' of 'trouble' rather than doubling it before the -ing ending. Note that the silent pairing of 'ou' produces a short 'uh' sound, which is the part most likely to trip up a writer who spells by ear.

How the word is built

• troubl- (from Old French trubler: to disturb)
• -ing (forming adjective/present participle)