perturbée

Perturbée is the feminine singular past participle of the French verb perturber. It functions as an adjective meaning disturbed or disrupted and agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. The masculine form is perturbé, and the plural forms are perturbés (masculine) and perturbées (feminine).

Etymology and usage: Perturbée derives from perturber, itself from Latin perturbare, meaning to disturb or confuse. In everyday French, perturbée can describe physical, temporal, or informational disruption as well as emotional or psychological disturbance. It appears in both active and passive constructions: in the active voice, a sentence might say, Le bruit perturbe la concentration (the noise disturbs concentration); in the passive voice, La concentration a été perturbée par le bruit (the concentration was disturbed by the noise).

Semantic nuance: As an adjective, perturbée conveys that a subject has been unsettled, hindered, or disrupted by an external factor. It can describe objects, processes, or states, such as a route, a signal, a system, or a person’s emotional condition. In reference to people, the term can carry a clinical or evaluative tone if used without context, so it is often chosen carefully in formal writing.

Related terms: perturbation (the act or result of perturbing), perturbateur (something that perturbs), perturbable (capable of being perturbed). The concept is common in physics, engineering, and social sciences, where it denotes deviation from a normal or expected state.

See also: perturbation, perturber, perturbé, perturbée.