Standard Lemma guide

disorient

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /dɪsˈɔːɹi.ənt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S AO1 R IY0 EH2 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To cause to lose orientation or direction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To confuse or befuddle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

cause to be lost or disoriented

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: disorientate

Antonyms: orient

Broader terms: confuse, throw, fox, befuddle, fuddle, bedevil, confound, discombobulate

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des- Middle French des- French dés- French orienter French désorienterbor. English disorient Borrowed from French désorienter.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: разориентирам (razorientiram) — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Bulgarian: обърквам (obǎrkvam) — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Finnish: eksyttää — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Finnish: harhauttaa — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • French: désorienter — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • German: desorientieren — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • German: verwirren — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Hungarian: összezavar — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Hungarian: félrevezet — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Hungarian: eltérít — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Hungarian: dezorientál — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Icelandic: rugla — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Icelandic: rugla í ríminu — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Icelandic: gera ringlaðan — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Icelandic: láta tapa áttum — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Icelandic: villa um fyrir — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Icelandic: slá út af laginu — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Icelandic: gera áttavilltan — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Ingrian: öksyttää — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Italian: disorientare — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Norwegian Bokmål: desorientere — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: desorientere — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Polish: dezorientować — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Polish: zdezorientować — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Russian: дезориенти́ровать (dezorijentírovatʹ) — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Serbo-Croatian: dezorijentírati — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Spanish: desorientar — to cause to lose orientation or direction
  • Spanish: perder el norte — to cause to lose orientation or direction