chagrin
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
to vex by disappointment or humiliation.
The rejection of his proposal chagrined him deeply.
-
Obsolete. shagreen.
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See shame.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
chagrinsimple
-
chagrinssimple
-
have chagrinedperfect
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have chagrinnedperfect
-
has chagrinedperfect
-
has chagrinnedperfect
-
am chagriningprogressive
-
am chagrinningprogressive
-
are chagriningprogressive
-
are chagrinningprogressive
-
is chagriningprogressive
-
is chagrinningprogressive
-
have been chagriningperfect progressive
-
have been chagrinningperfect progressive
-
has been chagriningperfect progressive
-
has been chagrinningperfect progressive
Past
-
chagrinedsimple
-
chagrinnedsimple
-
had chagrinedperfect
-
had chagrinnedperfect
-
was chagriningprogressive
-
was chagrinningprogressive
-
were chagriningprogressive
-
were chagrinningprogressive
-
had been chagriningperfect progressive
-
had been chagrinningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chagrin
First recorded in 1650–60; from French; origin unknown
Explanation
Chagrin is a noun that represents an emotion or feeling and it's an uncomfortable one. If you feel chagrin, it means that you are embarrassed or distressed as a result of a failure. The word chagrin, a noun, comes from the French word of the same spelling and means "melancholy, anxiety, vexation." An odd fact about the word in English is that it had been thought to be related to another, similar-sounding word, shagreen, "rough, untanned leather." When one mistakes one word as a relative of another, it's called "false etymology."
Vocabulary lists containing chagrin
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"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns Monticello and runs its public educational programs, gradually came around to acknowledging the full subjecthood of Sally Hemings, to the chagrin of some visitors.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
Not even Dickensian “A Christmas Carol” visitations by the specters of his father and an Indonesian business partner negotiating a project involving a sandstone reservoir with “significant extraction costs” diminish his concomitant guilt and chagrin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026
His notes “took over our dining room at home,” much to his wife’s chagrin, Banatao said in the oral history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
The Basque manager rotated his pack heavily, to the chagrin of players like Vinicius Junior, who was benched on several occasions and hauled off early on others.
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
There is no official media coverage of gleanings, much to the chagrin of the more publicity-minded scythes.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Hector the dog delights and chagrins them in equal measure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2018
However, while Carter's crusty editorializing delights thousands of listeners, it chagrins thousands more, keeps him in a perpetual controversial stew.
From Time Magazine Archive
Can you, by the power of your imagination, transport yourself into the future, and, as it were, read your destiny, with all its prosperous and unfortunate incidents, its pleasures and chagrins?
From The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851 by Various
All these forms of desire had to be overcome to escape from the distresses and chagrins of life.
From A Short History of the World by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Whereto he answered, "O my lady, may Allah Almighty preserve thee to veil sins and countervail chagrins!"
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 10 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Josie is chagrined to recognize that she would forgive him, too, if he ever so much as pretended to care about her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
The front end, which was also a trunk, came up right to my rib cage, a contact point that would have chagrined any high school football coach as bad tackling form: too high.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
A rather chagrined Mr Ko told a room full of reporters that he had been tricked into the agreement - and that he should not have negotiated with the KMT alone, without any advisers present.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2023
During a “lightning round” of queries, Christie was chagrined when MacCallum asked him about government investigations of UFOs.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2023
She would go on like that for hours, connecting one offense to another until all of the things that chagrined her were spewed out.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
On his Thanksgiving vacation he had missed five successive quail and gone home chagrinned.
From Time Magazine Archive
Many another influence close to the Administration was similarly chagrinned.
From Time Magazine Archive
Last week publicity-hating President Tew was chagrinned to find his name very much in the news.
From Time Magazine Archive
Vouchsafing a brief condescending glance and a rough "How are you," Mr. Bagley led the way into the eating-house, Davenport chagrinned on Larcher's account, and Larcher stricken dumb by the stranger's outrage upon his self-esteem.
From The Mystery of Murray Davenport A Story of New York at the Present Day by Stephens, Robert Neilson
"The joke's on us this time, and no doubt about it," said the also chagrinned, but more philosophically inclined "Gibs."
From The Dreamer A Romantic Rendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe by Stanard, Mary Newton
Cecil's unfortunate encouragement of the night before—displayed more with a view to chagrining Sir Penthony than from a mere leaning toward coquetry—has fanned his passion to a very dangerous height.
From Molly Bawn by Hamilton, Margaret Wolfe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
