disappointing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disappointing
First recorded in 1520–30; disappoint + -ing 2
Explanation
Something that's disappointing isn't what you'd hoped for. A disappointing baseball season usually means that your favorite team lost a lot of games. When the candidate you voted for loses, it's a disappointing election result, and a disappointing grade in your math class is lower than what you hoped or expected it would be. Disappointing comes from the verb disappoint, which means "frustrate expectations," but had an earlier definition of "remove from appointed office." The modern sense of disappoint and disappointing comes from "fail to keep an appointment."
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.
“ATS’ outlook for modest revenue growth in F2027 is a little disappointing, but it expects 50bps-75bps of F2027 margin improvement, supported by a transportation restructuring,” Radbourne says.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Mock, who claims to have met with the group’s leader, Ed Martin, found this disappointing: “The American people expect equal justice, not selective follow-through.”
From Slate • May 28, 2026
Zscaler’s disappointing guidance led to a sharp drop, affecting Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
However disappointing the shift might be, it’s not all that surprising, either.
From Salon • May 27, 2026
This was disappointing news, to say the least!
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
