alarming

alarming — adjective

1. making people feel worried or frightened because something bad seems likely to h

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

making people feel worried or frightened because something bad seems likely to happen, or because a situation appears dangerous or out of control.

Example

Coral reefs near Okinawa are dying at an alarming rate, marine biologists warned last week.

collocation: at an alarming rate

The new vaccine showed no alarming side effects during the six-month trial in Taipei hospitals.

collocation: alarming side effects (medical)

Common collocations
  • alarming rate
  • alarming rise
  • alarming increase
  • alarming decline
  • alarming drop
  • alarming trend
  • alarming number of
  • alarming side effects
  • alarming symptoms
  • alarming news
  • alarming discovery
  • alarming development
Synonyms
  • worrying

    everyday word for general anxiety; slightly milder than 'alarming'.

  • disturbing

    stronger; suggests the news shocks or upsets, often morally.

  • troubling

    formal; emphasises a problem that needs thought, not panic.

  • frightening

    stronger and more emotional; focuses on fear rather than concern.

Antonyms
  • reassuring

    describes information that reduces worry.

  • comforting

    softer opposite; brings emotional calm.

Grammar Patterns

alarming + noun (rate, rise, increase, trend)

it is alarming + that-clause

alarming to + infinitive

Usage Note

Frequently used in news, medical, and scientific writing with quantitative nouns (rate, number, level, increase, drop). Often appears in the fixed phrase 'at an alarming rate'. Distinguish from 'alarmed' — 'alarming' describes the thing causing the feeling, 'alarmed' describes the person who feels it.

Common Mistakes

I felt alarming when I heard the news.
I felt alarmed when I heard the news.
use 'alarmed' for the person who feels worry; 'alarming' is for the thing that causes it.
The doctor gave me an alarmed report about my blood test.
The doctor gave me an alarming report about my blood test.
the report causes worry, so use 'alarming'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four describe news or situations that make people feel uneasy, but they differ in intensity and register. 'Worrying' is the everyday choice for low-level concern: a worrying cough, a worrying email. 'Alarming' is one step stronger and signals that something feels urgent or possibly dangerous — newspapers love phrases like 'an alarming rise in cases'. 'Disturbing' is stronger again and often carries a moral or emotional weight: a disturbing video, a disturbing pattern of abuse. 'Troubling' is more formal and reflective; it suggests a problem worth thinking about rather than reacting to with panic. So a doctor might call a small temperature rise 'worrying', a sudden 30% jump 'alarming', graphic injury photos 'disturbing', and a long-term policy gap 'troubling'.

alarming ↗worrying ↗disturbing ↗troubling ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • deeply alarming
  • particularly alarming
  • increasingly alarming
  • truly alarming

Phrases

  • at an alarming rate
  • an alarming number of
  • find something alarming
  • describe something as alarming

Prepositions

  • alarming for (someone)
  • alarming to (someone)

Etymology

ItalianOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

From the verb 'alarm' (to warn of danger) plus the '-ing' ending that turns a verb into an adjective describing what causes the action. 'Alarm' itself came into English in the late 1300s from Old French 'alarme', borrowed from the Italian battle-cry 'all'arme!', meaning 'to the weapons!' — a shout used to call soldiers to defend a town. The adjective sense 'causing worry' was in regular use by the 1700s.