Upsettingly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a way that provokes feelings of unease or discomfort
2. In a manner that incites emotional disturbance or unhappiness
3. In a fashion that causes emotional pain or disruption

Etymology: "Upsettingly" is an adverb built from "upsetting" and the suffix "-ly". The suffix traces back through Middle English "-ly" and Old English "-līce" to a Proto-Germanic ancestor, "*-līkaz", which meant "having the form or appearance of" and is related to the word "like" in its older sense of "body" or "form". So "-ly" originally carried the idea of "in the manner of" or "in the appearance of," and an adverb such as this one was, at root, a description of how an action looks or behaves. The base word, "upsetting," is the present participle of "upset," a verb formed from "up" and "set," meaning to knock over or overturn. Its sense of distressing someone emotionally came later, as the physical image of something being overturned was carried over to a person's composure. Adding "-ly" gives the sense "in a manner that disturbs or distresses," which is how the word is used today.

Synonyms: distressingly, annoyingly, troublingly