disappoint

disappointverb

American /ˌdɪs.ə.ˈpɔɪnt/ British /ˌdɪs.ə.ˈpɔɪnt/ The strongest stress is on the last part: dis-uh-POINT.
third-person singular disappoints past tense disappointed past participle disappointed present participle disappointing
  1. make someone unhappy because something is not as good as they hoped, or does not happen

    transitive or intransitive [T/I] verb + object [V + obj]

    Collocations

    adverb + verb deeply disappoint, never disappoint
    phrase be sorry to disappoint someone, not want to disappoint someone

    Synonyms let down

Word family

  • disappointed
  • disappointing
  • disappointment

Usage

The feeling is usually described with the adjective disappointed (I was disappointed with the result), and the cause with disappointing (the result was disappointing). The verb itself is used most with the cause as its subject: the result disappointed me.

Common mistakes

I am disappointing with the result. I am disappointed with the result.
Disappointed describes how you feel; disappointing describes what causes the feeling.

For translators

Grammar trap With disappoint, the cause is the subject and the person is the object: the result disappointed me. To describe the feeling, English more often uses the adjective disappointed.