disagreeable

[ dis-uh-gree-uh-buhl ]

/ ˌdɪs əˈgri ə bəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR disagreeable ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

contrary to one's taste or liking; unpleasant; offensive; repugnant.

unpleasant in manner or nature; unamiable: a thoroughly disagreeable person.

noun

an unpleasant or repugnant circumstance, attribute, thing, etc.: Bent on being cheerful, he suppressed any mention of the disagreeable in our conversation.

disagreeables, the disagreeable aspects of a situation, course of action, etc.: The pleasant features of the arrangement far outweigh the disagreeables.

Nearby words

Origin of disagreeable

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Middle French word desagreable. See dis-¹, agreeable

SYNONYMS FOR disagreeable

2 cross, grouchy, surly, testy.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR disagreeable ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsdis·a·gree·a·ble·ness, dis·a·gree·a·bil·i·ty, noundis·a·gree·a·bly, adverbun·dis·a·gree·a·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for disagreeable

Her disagreeable nature made it nearly impossible for her to hold down a job.
Oswald’s Mother Was a Thoroughly Disagreeable Piece of Work|Steve North|November 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It was a disagreeable business and the only occasion I can remember that we quarreled.
Alan Turing’s Brother: He Should Be Alive Today|John Ferrier Turing|June 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
America needs a green eyeshade party willing to do the disagreeable work of squeezing waste from the system.
After The GOP Fails to Repeal Obamacare|David Frum|February 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
McPherson is famously abrasive and is universally regarded as one of the most disagreeable executives in Hollywood.
Showdown at ABC|Peter Lauria|April 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST

Nothing much new here except for the uneasy feeling that my personal life is likely to get some disagreeable publicity soon.
Norman Mailer vs. Everyone|Norman Mailer|February 27, 2009|DAILY BEAST
A bog or swamp is a most disagreeable place in which to be caught, and calls for calmness to get out without a wetting or fall.
How Women Should Ride|C. De Hurst
The doing so will be disagreeable, but it will not be antipathetic to the nature of an Englishman.
North America, Volume II (of 2)|Anthony Trollope
Lydia, relieved of a disagreeable suspicion that her usually faultless footman must be drunk, thanked him and went up-stairs.
Cashel Byron's Profession|George Bernard Shaw
Or it might possibly be Lotta Luxa, who, next to her aunt, was of all women the most disagreeable to Nina.
Nina Balatka|Anthony Trollope
It has been aptly remarked that the public is ever more ready to believe pleasing fictions, than disagreeable verities.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery|Robert Means Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for disagreeable

disagreeable

/ (ˌdɪsəˈɡriːəbəl) /

adjective

not likable, esp bad-tempered, offensive, or disobligingdisagreeable remarks

not to one's liking; unpleasanta disagreeable task

Derived Formsdisagreeableness or disagreeability, noundisagreeably, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for disagreeable

disagreeable

adj.

c.1400, "not in agreement," from Old French desagreable (13c.), from des- (see dis-) + agreable (see agreeable). Meaning "not in accord with one's taste" is from 1690s. Related: Disagreeably; disagreeableness. Slightly earlier in same sense was unagreeable (late 14c.).