dissatisfy
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of dissatisfy
Explanation
When you dissatisfy someone, you don't meet their expectations. If you promise your dad a chocolate cake for his birthday, giving him a bran muffin instead might dissatisfy him. To satisfy someone is to fulfill what they need or hope for — and when you dissatisfy them, you fail to do that. Your final research paper might dissatisfy your history professor, and an expensive meal will dissatisfy you if you believe you could cook something even tastier at home. Dissatisfy combines dis-, "do the opposite of," with satisfy, from its Latin root satisfacere, "discharge fully" or "do enough."
Vocabulary lists containing dissatisfy
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:
Success is, eventually, actually reading your unread books, or at least holding on to them long enough that they have the chance to satisfy, dissatisfy or dement you.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 7, 2019
The more time it takes to do something, the higher your labor costs, and the more potential there is to dissatisfy the customer.
From Inc ● Oct. 22, 2012
This workplace is an instance of individuals caught in the grip of unproductive systems, that systematically dispirit the staff, dissatisfy the clients and make the firm less productive than it could be.
From Forbes ● Jun. 23, 2011
The court had accomplished the near impossible: it had handed down a decision that would partly satisfy most people and strongly dissatisfy only a few.
From Time Magazine Archive
They always embarrass those who give them, and dissatisfy those who receive them.
From Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims by J. W. (John William) Willis Bund
People are "dissatisfied" with the "broken status quo" of Los Angeles, the 45-year-old city council member said at a festive campaign event aimed at Latino voters.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Leading retirement researcher Wade Pfau recently weighed in on these fears on his podcast, Retire With Style, saying that many people are dissatisfied with annuities because they are comparing them to stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
But are the 70% of Americans who are dissatisfied with higher ed also imagining?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Bloomberg Law, which first reported the demotions, said Washington Field Office leadership was dissatisfied with the pace of the investigation and that the Miller family shared those frustrations.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not on the basis of the color of their skin.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
But that won’t keep low job growth from feeling dissatisfying for many Americans, and challenging for investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Anna’s narrative drift takes her to Athens, leading to an ending some may find perfectly natural and others dissatisfying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
Even if A.I. could make changes to movies and books that you personally find dissatisfying, part of those works’ value lies in the shared conversations they inspire—conversations that require opinions about common, historically situated texts.
From Slate ● Mar. 29, 2023
Jaakko can’t help referencing “Fargo” even as he’s being threatened, but rather than follow that cue and dial up the whimsy, the plot eventually thins out into dissatisfying contrivances.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2023
The lament over the defeat of his dream of fair lords and ladies by the reality of a withered and dissatisfying world runs like a torment through his verse.
From Old and New Masters by Robert Lynd
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
