Dictionary

disillusionment en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• audio Queensland
• /ˌdɪsəˈlʉːʒənmənt/ (Australia)
• (Texas) audio
• /ˌdɪsɪˈljuːʒənmənt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌdɪsəˈluʒənmənt/ (Canada, US)
• /ˌdɪsɪˈluːʒənmənt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌdɪsɪˈluʒənmənt/ (Canada, US)

Etymology

From dis- + illusion + -ment.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A feeling of disappointment, akin to depression, arising from the realization that something is not what it was expected or believed to be, possibly accompanied by philosophical angst from having one's beliefs challenged.
   • They were self-conscious of their disillusionment and demoralization, and their spokesmen—the artists and journalists among them—publicized their cynicism so successfully that it came to be regarded as the mood of a whole decade. October 1940, Mortimer Adler\This Prewar Generation, “Harper's Magazine”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
   • But till I am thirty, I know that my youth will triumph over everything- every disillusionment, every disgust with life. 1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett, “3”, in The Brothers Karamazov, book V:
   • 'Oh, this fair is nothing but a chaos of noise and beggars,' I thought in disillusionment. 'I wonder if Western scientists, patiently enlarging the realms of knowledge for the practical good of mankind, are not more pleasing to God than these idlers who profess religion but concentrate on alms.' 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda, “Chapter 36: Babaji's Interest in the West”, in Autobiography of a Yogi:
   • 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower, First State of the Union Address, Our country has come through a painful period of trial and disillusionment since the victory of 1945. We anticipated a world of peace and cooperation. The calculated pressures of aggressive communism have forced us, instead, to live in a world of turmoil.
   • I catch on your face the old sad smile / Of our ancient disillusionment, / When the ardent crowd tries to beguile / Your world-old soul to impassionment. 1917, John Cowper Powys, “Travellers”, in Mandragora:
2. (countable, uncountable) The act of freeing from an illusion; the state of being freed therefrom.
   • It is a very wholesome and regenerating change which a man undergoes when he "comes to himself." […] It is a process of disillusionment. The scales have fallen away. 1901, Woodrow Wilson, When a Man Comes to Himself, section I:

Forms

Translations (36)

hu kiábrándulás (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · ja 幻滅 (act of freeing from an illusion) · es desilusionamiento (act of freeing from an illusion) · nl desillusie (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · de Ernüchterung (act of freeing from an illusion) · eo disreviĝo (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · cmn 幻滅 /幻灭 (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · fr désillusion (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · de Ernüchterung (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · mi matekiritanga (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · eo elrevigo (act of freeing from an illusion) · ru утра́та иллю́зий (act of freeing from an illusion) · uk розчарува́ння (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · es desilusión (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · mi whakamatekiritanga (act of freeing from an illusion) · eo senreviĝo (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · cmn 失望 (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · eo elreviĝo (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · gl desilusión (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · cmn 幻滅 /幻灭 (act of freeing from an illusion) · el απογοήτευση (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · ru разочарова́ние (act of freeing from an illusion) · pl rozczarowanie (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · de Enttäuschung (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · de Desillusionierung (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · ja 幻滅 (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · ru разочаро́ванность (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · ru разочарова́ние (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · ru круше́ние иллю́зий (act of freeing from an illusion) · eo seniluziiĝo (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · fr désillusion (act of freeing from an illusion) · uk розчаро́ваність (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · de Desillusionierung (act of freeing from an illusion) · es desilusión (act of freeing from an illusion) · cs deziluze (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be) · ja 失望 (feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be)