dissatisfaction
Americannoun
-
dissatisfactions
plural
-
the state or attitude of not being satisfied; discontent; displeasure.
- Synonyms:
- uneasiness, disapproval, disappointment
-
a particular cause or feeling of displeasure or disappointment.
many dissatisfactions with the plan.
noun
Synonym Usage
Dissatisfaction, discontent, displeasure imply a sense of dislike for, or unhappiness in, one's surroundings. Dissatisfaction results from contemplating what falls short of one's wishes or expectations: dissatisfaction with the results of an afternoon's work. Discontent is a sense of lack and a general feeling of uneasy dislike for the conditions of one's life: feeling a continual vague discontent. Displeasure suggests a certain amount of anger as well as dissatisfaction: displeasure at being kept waiting.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dissatisfaction
First recorded in 1630–40; dis- 1 + satisfaction
Explanation
When you're unhappy, disappointed, or annoyed about something, you feel a sense of dissatisfaction. Your dissatisfaction with your boring French class might inspire you to switch to beginning Mandarin. An entire country's dissatisfaction with their government can lead to a new administration being voted in, or in the case of extreme dissatisfaction, a revolution. Your dissatisfaction with the pasta dish you ordered might simply make you ask for a hamburger instead. Dissatisfaction adds the dis-, or "lack of," prefix to satisfaction, which originally referred to "an act by a priest to atone for sin," but came to mean "contentment" by the 14th century.
Vocabulary lists containing dissatisfaction
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:
There is little margin for error or customer dissatisfaction, as disgruntled viewers will tune out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
MPs launched an inquiry into student loans in England this year amid "widespread dissatisfaction" over repayment terms.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
The result is flattening and enervating, and my dissatisfaction was apparently shared by others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
President Milei’s approval rating recently fell to its lowest level amid allegations against his chief of staff and economic dissatisfaction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
At last he feels that he belongs in the classroom, and this is exactly the source of the dissatisfaction he causes.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
But “The Book of Ayn” is rife with dissatisfactions — to its credit — and with self-aware jokes and serious questions about self-awareness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
But Clare’s sudden presence begins to raise a sense of dangerous possibility within Irene — one of unacknowledged desires and dissatisfactions.
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2021
I can’t tell if I still feel something toward him or if he’s just an easy target to project my dissatisfactions onto.
From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2021
Haemin is especially eloquent on life’s smaller dissatisfactions, and how they can sometimes be trickier to deal with than the bigger, more dramatic ones.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 12, 2019
It was indeed triumphantly lovely, although, examining it more critically by the morning light, he had found slight dissatisfactions.
From The Nest, The White Pagoda, The Suicide, A Forsaken Temple, Miss Jones and The Masterpiece by Anne Douglas Sedgwick
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.
