alarming

adjective

alarm·​ing ə-ˈlär-miŋ How to pronounce alarming (audio)
: causing people to feel danger or alarm or to be worried or frightened
alarming news
The statistics revealed an alarming increase in childhood obesity.
alarmingly
ə-ˈlär-miŋ-lē
adverb
an alarmingly high rate of infection

Examples of alarming in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web To Palestinians watching the world meddle with their fate, most alarming is the prevailing wisdom among U.S. politicians that bringing in a technocratic leader, independent of political factions, would somehow be the magic wand that will fix the PA. Raja Khalidi, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2024 Spotting Spotting, or light bleeding, at any other time of the month than your period can be alarming. Anthea Levi, Health, 16 Mar. 2024 But those numbers dwindled to alarming levels, falling about 50% over the past week, according to the chairman of the city’s water supply and sewage board, V. Ram Prasat Manohar. Rhea Mogul, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024 The numbers have been alarming: In December, just 1,281 pounds of crawfish moved through the dock. Rick Rojas Emily Kask, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024 But zooming in on the data, the FDA observed an alarming imbalance of deaths in the early months of both studies, finding that more patients in the CAR-T group died of myeloma or side effects than those receiving the standard of care. Damian Garde, STAT, 15 Mar. 2024 While the cost of EV production keeps going down, the cost of EV repairs keep going up at alarming rates. José Rodríguez Jr. / Jalopnik, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024 Particularly alarming is the Swedish tour bus going through Harlem. Kim Gordon, Variety, 13 Mar. 2024 Initially, her cousin didn't perceive these symptoms as alarming. Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'alarming.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of alarm entry 2

First Known Use

1658, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of alarming was in 1658

Dictionary Entries Near alarming

Cite this Entry

“Alarming.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alarming. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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