Disappointed

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪntɪd/

Definitions

1. Experiencing sadness or displeasure when something anticipated does not happen or meet hopes
2. Feeling let down or dissatisfied because outcomes fall short of what was expected
3. Having a sense of unhappiness caused by events that do not fulfill one's desires or hopes

Etymology: The most surprising fact is that "disappointed" once meant something close to the opposite of its modern sense: to be disappointed originally meant being stripped of an office or position. The verb "disappoint" came into Middle English from Middle French "desappointer", and its earliest sense was "to dispossess of an office". The "dis-" prefix reverses the action, and "appoint" meant to assign someone to a post, so to disappoint was to remove someone from that post. Over time the meaning broadened. Speakers began using it to mean frustrating someone's expectations or desires, and then defeating the fulfillment of a hope or plan. The modern emotional sense of feeling let down grew out of these figurative uses. The office sense has not disappeared entirely. Its modern use survives only as a nonstandard extension, applied by analogy with "appoint", where people speak of someone being disappointed from a role. "Disappointed" is simply the past participle form of the verb, so it carries the same history as the verb itself.

Synonyms: dismayed, let down, displeased, frustrated, discouraged

Antonyms: satisfied, pleased, content, happy, fulfilled