English

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Etymology

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From dis- +‎ compose.

Verb

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discompose (third-person singular simple present discomposes, present participle discomposing, simple past and past participle discomposed)

  1. (transitive) To destroy the composure of; to disturb or agitate.
    • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume III, chapter 6:
      I am glad I have done being in love with him. I should not like a man who is so soon discomposed by a hot morning.
    • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 3, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, [], published 1853, →OCLC:
      You will not be discomposed by the Lord Chancellor, I dare say?
    • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 127:
      That thought appeared to discompose her greatly, though Jasper made light of it by rapidly back-scratching with his hind legs and giving a short stern bark, just to assure her that strangers would be rushed off the property on sight.
  2. (transitive) To disarrange, or throw into a state of disorder.
    • 1712-17, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (London: Chiswick Press. 1925), canto IV:
      If e'er with airy horns I planted heads,
      Or rumpled petticoats, or tumbled beds,
      Or caus'd suspicion when no soul was rude,
      Or discompos'd the head-dress of a prude...

Synonyms

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Translations

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See also

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Italian

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Verb

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discompose

  1. third-person singular past historic of discomporre