Meaning & use
disappointment
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Meanings
noununcountable
The sad feeling you get when something or someone is not as good as you had hoped.
Grammar: No plural for the general feeling; say 'much disappointment', not 'many disappointments'.
Patterns
- to someone's disappointment
- feel/express disappointment
- disappointment at/over something
- disappointment with someone
To his disappointment, the job offer went to another candidate.
Fans felt deep disappointment after the team lost the final in the last minute.
nouncountable
A person, event, or thing that fails to satisfy the hopes people had for it.
Grammar: Takes a plural; usually follows 'a' or 'a real/complete'.
Patterns
- a (real/bit of a) disappointment
- a disappointment to someone
- a disappointment for someone
The sequel was a disappointment compared with the original film.
The small turnout at the fundraiser was a disappointment for the organizers.
Word forms
| plural | disappointments |
|---|
Common combinations
- to someone's disappointment
- To our disappointment, the museum was closed on the only day we could visit.
- express disappointment
- Several customers called the shop to express disappointment with the delayed deliveries.
- bitter/deep disappointment
- Losing the election was a bitter disappointment after months of campaigning.
- a disappointment to someone
- The test results were a disappointment to her parents, though they did not say so.
Synonyms and how they differ
- letdown
- Informal and close in meaning to sense 2; a person or event that fails to please, as in 'the party was a letdown'.
- regret
- Focuses on wishing you had acted differently, not on outside events failing your hopes.
- dismay
- Stronger and includes shock or worry, not only sadness at unmet hopes.
Opposites
Word family
- disappoint verb
- To fail to meet someone's hopes or expectations.
- disappointed adjective
- Feeling sadness because hopes were not met.
- disappointing adjective
- Causing disappointment; describes the thing, not the person's feeling.
Commonly confused: disappointment or disappointing?
disappointment vs disappointing
'Disappointed' describes how a person feels ('I am disappointed'); 'disappointing' describes the thing that causes the feeling ('a disappointing result').
Practice
Choose the correct form: 'The exam results were very ___, and the whole class felt ___.'
Choose one answer.
Use -ing for the thing causing the feeling (the results were disappointing) and -ed for the people feeling it (the class felt disappointed). Option 1 applies this rule in the right order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disappointment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.