disruption

disruption — noun

1. Any event or condition that stops a planned activity, service, or process from c

1.名詞B2
釋義

Any event or condition that stops a planned activity, service, or process from carrying on as usual, or makes it much harder for it to do so.

例句

The train strike caused major disruption for thousands of commuters across the city.

cause + major disruption for + noun group

Asher gave up on his report because street noise was too much of a disruption.

countable: a disruption

同義詞
  • interruption

    More neutral; disruption suggests greater difficulty or chaos than interruption.

  • disturbance

    Often implies noise or movement that bothers people, not necessarily a full halt of activity.

  • breakdown

    Implies a complete failure of a system, not just an obstacle to its normal flow.

反義詞
  • continuity

    The smooth, uninterrupted flow of an activity or process.

文法句型

cause / suffer / face / experience disruption

disruption + to + noun phrase

用法筆記

Can be either uncountable (disruption in general) or countable with 'a/an' (a specific disruptive event). The preposition 'to' is common after the noun: 'disruption to services', 'disruption to travel plans'.

常見錯誤

❌The power cut caused disruption to happened.
✅The power cut caused disruption to the factory.
💡'disruption to' is followed by a noun phrase, not a verb.
❌There was disruption on the traffic.
✅There was disruption to the traffic.
💡Use 'to', not 'on', after 'disruption' when talking about traffic, transport, or services.

2. A fundamental change to how a particular area of business operates, caused by ne

2.名詞B2
釋義

A fundamental change to how a particular area of business operates, caused by new products or technology that make older methods less important or unnecessary.

例句

Streaming services caused a huge disruption in the traditional television industry.

disruption in + [industry]

Takeshi wrote about how mobile payment apps brought disruption to the banking sector.

lead to disruption in + [sector]

同義詞
  • transformation

    Broader term; does not necessarily imply that something is replaced or overthrown.

  • upheaval

    Stronger and more emotional; suggests a difficult or painful period of change.

  • revolution

    More dramatic; implies a sudden and complete change that affects everyone.

文法句型

disruption + in / to + noun phrase (industry / market / sector)

cause / create / bring about disruption

用法筆記

In this sense, disruption has a positive or neutral tone in business writing — it describes innovation and progress, not chaos. The adjective 'disruptive' and noun 'disruptor' are common in the same context. Distinguish from sense 1 by watching the object: an industry or market points to sense 2; a process, routine, or service points to sense 1.

常見錯誤

❌The new app caused disruption of the hotel industry.
✅The new app caused disruption in the hotel industry.
💡Use 'in', not 'of', to introduce the affected industry or sector.
❌The meeting was a disruption to our schedule.' (when meaning a routine interruption)
✅Use sense 1 'disruption' (INTERRUPTION) for everyday schedules. Sense 2 is for whole industries and markets.