Dictionary

disappoint en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪnt/ (General-American)
• /dɪsəˈpɔɪnt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

From Middle French desapointer (compare French désappointer). The word originally meant to "dispossess of appointed office", and eventually broadened to mean "to frustrate the expectations or desires of" and "defeat the realization or fulfillment of".

Meanings

1. (transitive) To sadden or displease (someone) by underperforming, or by not delivering something promised or hoped for.
   • I was disappointed by last year’s revenue.
   • My father liked his rice light and fluffy, but separate. […] Since he’d gone so long without a taste, the possibility of disappointing him weighed heavily on my mother. 2007, Edwidge Danticat, Brother, I’m Dying, New York: Knopf, Part 2, “Transition,”:
   • Here are officers enough at Meryton to disappoint all the young ladies in the country. 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 1, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 12:
   • His lack of respect disappointed her.
2. (transitive) To deprive (someone of something expected or hoped for).
   • 1707, extract from Lord Caryll’s letters, in James Macpherson (ed.), Original Papers: containing the secret history of Great Britain, from the restoration, to the accession of the House of Hannover, London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1775, Volume 2, p. 86, You tell me, that the hasty departure of Mr. Rysehoven [Marlborough] out of town disappointed you of speaking to him, of which the loss, I think, is not very great;
   • 1637, Thomas Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, Act V, Scene 4, in Comedies and Tragedies, London: Henry Herringman, 1664, p. 152, Bless me from an old waiting-womans wrath; she’l never forgive me the disappointing her of a promise when I was drunk;
   • […] you shan’t be disappointed of a wedding—you shall come to mine. 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC, Act II, page 32:
   • Disappointed of immediate promotion he was now more … well, relaxed […] 2000, Alan Bennett, “The Laying On of Hands”, in The Laying On of Hands: Stories, New York: Picador, published 2002, page 94:
   • They that haue money in their purse, are afrayde and in doubte, yea and are continuallye martyred with feare, leaste GOD should disappoint them of their pray, and abate their portion. 1574, Arthur Golding, transl., Sermons of Master John Calvin, upon the Booke of Job, London: Lucas Harison and George Byshop, Sermon 32, p. 163:
   • Miss Courteney […] sat down again, tho’ with some reluctance, telling his lordship that she would not be the means of disappointing him of his coffee; but that she must insist upon being permitted to withdraw in half an hour, having business of consequence upon her hands. 1758, Charlotte Lennox, Henrietta, London: A. Millar, Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 8, p. 178:
3. (dated, transitive) To fail to meet (an expectation); to fail to fulfil (a hope).
   • […] a change in prices and rewards, as measured in money, generally affects different classes unequally […] and redistributes Fortune’s favours so as to frustrate design and disappoint expectation. 1923, John Maynard Keynes, “Social Consequences of Changes in the Value of Money”, in Essays in Persuasion, London: Macmillan, published 1933, pages 80–81:
   • 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 127, 4 June, 1751, Volume 4, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, pp. 240-241, It is not uncommon for those who at their first entrance into the world were distinguished for eminent attainments or superior abilities, to disappoint the hopes which they had raised, and to end in neglect and obscurity that life which they began in celebrity and honour.
   • “But perhaps your accommodations—your cottage—your furniture—have disappointed your expectations?” 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter V, in Jane Eyre. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 122:
   • The boy’s confidence in her hospitality touched Mrs. Bhaer, and she could not find the heart to disappoint his hope, and spoil his kind little plan […] 1871, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 6, in Little Men: […], Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 90:
   • […] his life was despaired of; and all Japan was filled with alarm and apprehension at the prospect of an infant’s ascending the throne: […] Their fears, however, were happily disappointed by the recovery of the emperor, 1769, Tobias Smollett, The History and Adventures of an Atom, volume 2, London: Robinson and Roberts, pages 165–166:
4. (dated, transitive) To show (an opinion, belief, etc.) to be mistaken.
   • I am sure you will not disappoint my opinion of you, by failing at any time to treat your aunt Norris with the respect and attention that are due to her. 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 6:
   • “Well, I thought it was too good to be true,” he said at last, with a sigh of disappointed conviction. 1909, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 14”, in Anne of Avonlea, Boston: L. C. Page, page 150:
5. (obsolete, transitive) To prevent (something planned or attempted).
   • He [God] disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 5:12:
   • But heavy rains, the difficulties of the country, and the good intelligence which the Outlaw was always supplied with, disappointed their well-concerted combination. 1817 December 1, [Walter Scott], Rob Roy. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, published 31 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page lxiii:
   • The wary Trojan shrinks, and bending low Beneath his Buckler, disappoints the Blow. 1716, Homer, “Book VII”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 201:

Forms

Antonyms

satisfy

Deriveds

disappointment noun · disappointed adjective · disappointer noun · disappointing adjective

Synonyms

thwart · frustrate

Translations (68)

fr priver (to deprive) · fi viedä pois (to deprive) · pl rozczarować (to displease by underperforming etc) · sh razočárati (to displease by underperforming etc) · ang trucian (to displease by underperforming etc) · cmn 辜負 /辜负 (to displease by underperforming etc) · ru подвести́ (to displease by underperforming etc) · mk разочарува (to displease by underperforming etc) · ru разочаро́вывать (to displease by underperforming etc) · uk розчаро́вувати (to displease by underperforming etc) · fi saada pettymään (to displease by underperforming etc) · it contrariare (to displease by underperforming etc) · da skuffe (to displease by underperforming etc) · io deceptar (to displease by underperforming etc) · ja 失望させる (to displease by underperforming etc) · ru подводи́ть (to displease by underperforming etc) · es decepcionar (to displease by underperforming etc) · sv göra besviken (to displease by underperforming etc) · eo desaponti (to displease by underperforming etc) · hu csalódást okoz (to displease by underperforming etc) · be расчарава́ць (to displease by underperforming etc) · cmn 對不起 /对不起 (to displease by underperforming etc) · fr décevoir (to displease by underperforming etc) · pl zawieść (to displease by underperforming etc) · hu kiábrándít (to displease by underperforming etc) · fi riistää (to deprive) · sv besvika (to displease by underperforming etc) · pt dececionar (to displease by underperforming etc) · mk разочара (to displease by underperforming etc) · cy siomi (to displease by underperforming etc) · ko 실망시키다 (to displease by underperforming etc) · fr désappointer (to displease by underperforming etc) · de enttäuschen (to displease by underperforming etc) · fi ottaa pois (to deprive) · bg разочаровам (to displease by underperforming etc) · fi tuottaa pettymys (to displease by underperforming etc) · it dispiacere (to displease by underperforming etc) · pt desapontar (to displease by underperforming etc) · sv svika (to displease by underperforming etc) · nl teleurstellen (to displease by underperforming etc) · sh разочарати (to displease by underperforming etc) · vi làm thất vọng (to displease by underperforming etc) · he אכזב (to displease by underperforming etc) · ru разочарова́ть (to displease by underperforming etc) · th ผิดหวัง (to displease by underperforming etc) · es desilusionar (to displease by underperforming etc) · es quedar mal ante (to displease by underperforming etc) · gl decepcionar (to displease by underperforming etc) · ar خَيَّبَ آمَالَهُ (to displease by underperforming etc) · eo malkontentigi (to displease by underperforming etc) · de vorenthalten (to deprive) · pt decepcionar (to displease by underperforming etc) · hy հիասթափեցնել (to displease by underperforming etc) · it deludere (to displease by underperforming etc) · es desesperanzar (to displease by underperforming etc) · ca decebre (to displease by underperforming etc) · el απογοητεύω (to displease by underperforming etc) · uk розчарува́ти (to displease by underperforming etc) · sl razočarati (to displease by underperforming etc) · la frustro (to displease by underperforming etc) · cs zklamat (to displease by underperforming etc) · es defraudar (to displease by underperforming etc) · es desengañar (to displease by underperforming etc) · ga cuir díomá ar (to displease by underperforming etc) · tr düş kırıklığına uğratmak (to displease by underperforming etc) · cmn 使…失望 (to displease by underperforming etc) · eo desaponti (to deprive) · ang āþwītan (to displease by underperforming etc)