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disenchant

[dis-en-chant, -chahnt]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to rid of or free from enchantment, illusion, credulity, etc.; disillusion: The harshness of everyday reality disenchanted him of his idealistic hopes.
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Origin of disenchant

1580–90; < Middle French desenchanter, equivalent to des- dis-1 + enchanter to enchant
Related formsdis·en·chant·er, noundis·en·chant·ing, adjectivedis·en·chant·ing·ly, adverbdis·en·chant·ment, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

embitterspoilexacerbateoffendboreirritatealienatedebunkdisillusionenlightendissatisfydisheartendumbfounddisconcertbaffledeceivefailhampermisleaddisenchant

Examples from the Web for disenchant

Historical Examples

  • That marble mask of his beautiful love can but disenchant him.

    The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's Terrible Secret

    Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller

  • But by the help of our prayers and relics we will disenchant him.

    A Legend of Reading Abbey

    Charles MacFarlane

  • But all the banqueting and largess did not disenchant the ominous mansion.

  • I will now take you back to your father, who will certainly know how to disenchant you.'

  • Then he entered the hut and ordered the old woman to disenchant his brother.

British Dictionary definitions for disenchant

disenchant

verb
  1. (tr; when passive, foll by with or by) to make disappointed or disillusionedshe is disenchanted with the marriage
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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 disenchant

v.

1580s, from Middle French desenchanter (13c.), from des- (see dis-) + enchanter "to enchant" (see enchant). Related: Disenchanted; disenchanting; disenchantment. Carlyle coined disenchantress (1831).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper