upsetting

upsetting — adjective

1. causing a person to experience emotional pain, worry, or disappointment, often b

1.形容詞B2
釋義

causing a person to experience emotional pain, worry, or disappointment, often because something bad or unexpected has happened

例句

The news of the factory closing was deeply upsetting for Antonia's entire family.

collocation: deeply upsetting

It was upsetting to see how much the old neighborhood had changed since the fire.

it + be + upsetting + to-infinitive pattern

同義詞
  • distressing

    more formal, emphasizes mental pain; often used for serious situations like illness or loss

  • troubling

    milder, suggests worry about something unresolved or unclear

  • disturbing

    stronger, implies shock or a sense that something is morally wrong or deeply unsettling

  • heartbreaking

    very strong, specifically about deep sadness related to loss or tragedy

反義詞

文法句型

be upsetting + to-infinitive

be upsetting + that-clause

be upsetting + for + person

find + noun + upsetting

用法筆記

Frequently used with intensifying adverbs like deeply, extremely, very, and particularly. The cause of the distress (news, event, situation) is usually the subject; the person affected appears after for or in a find + object + upsetting structure. Unlike upset (which describes a person's emotional state: 'She was upset'), upsetting describes the thing that causes the emotion: 'The news was upsetting.'

常見錯誤

❌The movie was upsetted me.
✅The movie was upsetting.
💡'upsetting' is an adjective, not a past-tense verb form; use 'upset' as the verb: 'The movie upset me.'
❌I am upsetting to hear the news.
✅I am upset to hear the news.
💡'upset' (adjective) describes your own feeling; 'upsetting' describes the thing that causes the feeling.