chagrin
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
to vex by disappointment or humiliation.
The rejection of his proposal chagrined him deeply.
-
Obsolete. shagreen.
noun
verb
Related Words
See shame.
Other Word Forms
- chagrined adjective
- unchagrined adjective
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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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.
As the boys grew up, they took to roughhousing around the house, much to the chagrin of their mother.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
To my chagrin, being young and self-involved, as well as working a grueling summer job, I remember that I was almost oblivious to the crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 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
Much to Beijing's chagrin, those running many such scam centres are often Chinese themselves.
From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025
The unlikeliness of Harris’s bombshell—she was a grandmother, no less, without PhD or academic affiliation—prompted both wonder and chagrin.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
