Standard Lemma guide

disaffection

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /dɪsəˈfɛkʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH2 S AH0 F EH1 K SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Discontent; unrest.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • public disaffection
  • growing disaffection

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alienation; loss of loyalty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • political disaffection
  • The policy caused disaffection among young voters.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

disloyalty to the government or to established authority

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the widespread disaffection of the troops

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: disloyalty

4

noun

Meaning 4

the feeling of being alienated from other people

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alienation, estrangement

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dislike

Narrower terms: isolation

History

Etymology

From disaffect + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: недоволство (nedovolstvo) — discontent
  • Catalan: desafecció — discontent
  • Finnish: tyytymättömyys — discontent
  • French: désaffection — discontent
  • Irish: aimhriar — discontent
  • Irish: eascairdeas — discontent
  • Irish: mídhílseacht — discontent
  • Irish: míshástacht — discontent
  • Irish: neamhthairiseacht — discontent
  • Spanish: despego — discontent
  • Spanish: desafección — discontent