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Glite Dictionary
🌪️ Causing disturbance 🔬 Using small changes
perturbative

perturbative

9.9
Causing a change that makes a system unstable
  • adjective
  • /pərˈtərbəˌtiv/
translation icon : perturbador
  • The researchers conducted a study to understand how perturbative forces influence the behavior of particles in a collider.

Examples

  • Scientists often use perturbative methods to analyze the stability of complex systems in mathematics.

  • In physics, small fluctuations in energy levels can lead to a perturbative effect on the overall stability of the system.

  • So that's this perturbative serious expansion that you would use here.

  • You've written that a big hole in string theory has been its perturbative definition.

  • So it does describe the physics that I want, at least in this perturbative sense of the epsilon expansion.

  • Presumably, the amputees perceived shock as merely a perturbative impact, even though shock consisted of three elements: amplitude, frequency, and rate of damping.

    Academic text (1991)

Synonyms

disruptive
vsperturbative
57 5.8

Causing trouble that interrupts normal activity

relates to causing instability more broadly than just interrupting normal activity
turbulent
vsperturbative
34 6.6

Full of confusion and disorder among people, politics, or events

focuses on causing or relating to instability rather than describing the chaotic state

Antonyms

orderly
41 3.5

Calm and peaceful, without fighting or loud noise

stabilizing
  • US
1 3.7

Making something steady and less likely to change suddenly

How Disruptive

destructive
243 4.2
disruptive
57 5.8
perturbative
9.9
disturbing
304 4.2
unsettling
64 4.2

Surface Forms

perturbative positive

Morphology

perturbative = perturb (semi-transparent) = perturb + ative

Formally derived from 'perturb' + '-ative' and the sense 'causing or relating to disturbance' follows from 'perturb', but the vocabulary is formal and may not be obvious to a general B1 learner.

Etymology

Perturbative comes from the Latin perturbare, made of per- 'completely' and turbare 'to disturb'. Think of a rock thrown into a calm pond that makes waves and confusion. So, something perturbative is one that causes disturbance or instability.