Word family noun rest unrest restlessness adjective restless rested restful verb rest adverb restlessly restfully
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishunrestun‧rest /ʌnˈrest/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] PROTESTa political situation in which people protest or behave violently There is growing unrest throughout the country.political/social/industrial etc unrest The protests were the biggest show of social unrest since the government came to power.COLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + unrest social unrestThe policy led to rising unemployment and social unrest.political unrestA month of political unrest followed the killing of 12 protesters by the police.industrial unrestThe wave of nation-wide strikes and industrial unrest continued throughout the winter.civil unrest (=between groups of people in a country, or between the people and the government)Our country is being ripped apart by civil unrest.student unrestAnti-war demonstrations became the focus of student unrest in the early 1970s.urban unrest (=in towns or cities)Unemployment and poor housing were significant causes of urban unrest. growing/mounting unrestRocketing unemployment led to growing unrest in the country.serious unrestWe are receiving reports of serious unrest in areas of northern India.widespread unrest (=existing in many places or among many people)As prices soared, there was widespread unrest.phrasesan outbreak of unrestTroops usually respond to outbreaks of unrest with force.a wave of unrest (=a sudden increase in unrest)A wave of unrest had resulted in seven deaths.a period of unrestThe election results were followed by a long period of unrest.verbscause/provoke/spark unrestThe introduction of new working practices provoked severe industrial unrest.lead to unrestFood shortages led to widespread social unrest.quell unrest (=stop it)Troops were brought in to quell the unrest. Examples from the Corpus
unrest• The Foreign Office is advising people not to travel to the area, because of civil unrest.• And yet there seemed no cause for unrest.• Shortages in food have added to the growing unrest in the capitol.• a wave of nation-wide strikes and industrial unrest• They were ready for a little labor unrest.• The labour unrest and factory takeovers of 1968, for instance, evinced echoes of earlier syndicalist strategies.• For several weeks students at the university have been in a state of unrest.• The government blamed the unrest on the activities of several small left-wing groups intent on creating general instability.• In the unrest since January, 103 people have died.• There is a certain amount of evidence to suggest that local Tory leaders played a part in inciting the unrest.• The unrest then spread to secondary schools in Conakry.growing unrest• There was a growing unrest among the younger residents.• The shaman was still determined to resist and encouraged the growing unrest among the warriors. 