Wiktionary

disappointment

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

disappoint +‎ -ment

PronunciationEdit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /dɪsəˈpɔɪntmənt/
  • Audio (General American)(file)

NounEdit

disappointment (countable and uncountable, plural disappointments)

  1. (uncountable) The feeling or state of being disappointed: a feeling of sadness or frustration when something is not as good as one hoped or expected, or when something bad unexpectedly happens.
    Even a trip to beautiful California can cause disappointment.
    • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 184:
      They remembered too keenly their pleasant credulity as to what to-morrow would bring forth, to dare indulge expectation of its pleasure; they had been disappointed once—so might they be again—for disappointment ever leaves fear behind.
    • 1992, Today, News Group Newspapers Ltd
      Choking back his disappointment after his own team's splendid wins against Liverpool and Aston Villa, he said: "I've got to be humble and say we were beaten by a very good side."
  2. (countable) An example or the act of disappointing: a circumstance in which a positive expectation is not achieved.
    The disappointment with our trip to California caused bickering.
    • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.
    • 1990, Peter Hennessy, Cabinet, Basil Blackwell Ltd
      As the disappointments crowded in — the economy, Rhodesia, strife within the trade-union movement — Wilson tried the expedient of a semi-formal inner Cabinet, or Parliamentary Committee, as he misleadingly liked to call it.
  3. (countable) Something or someone that disappoints: that which causes disappointment.
    Even a trip to beautiful California can be a disappointment.
    What a disappointment!

Usage notesEdit

Used with the prepositions at/with/over.

SynonymsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

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