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disappoint

verb

Simple meaning

To sadden or displease by underperforming, or by not delivering something promised or hoped for.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihsuhpoynt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪsəˈpɔɪnt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To sadden or displease (someone) by underperforming, or by not delivering something promised or hoped for.

  2. transitive

    To deprive (someone of something expected or hoped for).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To sadden or displease (someone) by underperforming, or by not delivering something promised or hoped for.

Used this way, disappoint is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • disappointmentnounDerived noun

    A feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.