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
The course intended to be pursued being that of a strict and impartial neutrality, decisions rendered by the President rigorously on that principle, dissatisfy both parties, and draw complaints from both.
From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 3 by Thomas Jefferson Randolph
And if the stock price goes down, whoever owns the stock — whether that’s employees or investors — could become dissatisfied, he added.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Still, that won’t keep low job-growth numbers from making many Americans feel dissatisfied.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The professional ballroom dancer also slammed rumors that she was at all dissatisfied with her celebrity pairing alongside 55-year-old Rodriguez, the talk show sidekick to Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 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
"Those who are dissatisfied will drop away and those who remain you'll teach . . ." "I don't think I can," I said.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
In that, though, “Father Mother Sister Brother” is no doubt true enough to many a family gathering this Christmas—awkward, amusing, a bit dissatisfying, but not a disaster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
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
To follow such dissatisfying pursuits, is it possible to suffer the ignominy of being unjust?
From The Tatler, Volume 3 by Various
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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.
