Standard Lemma guide

disapproval

noun · 5 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.

General-American: /dɪsəˈpɹuvəl/
UK: [dɪsəˈpɹuːvəɫ]
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S AH0 P R UW1 V AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

noun

Meaning 1

The act of disapproving; condemnation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

Everyone glared in disapproval at the man talking loudly on the phone.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: censure, dispraise, disapprobation, attainder, attainture, attaintment, blame, condemnation, condemning, damnation, disapproval, improbation, reprehension

Antonyms: approval, encouragement, accedence, allowance, approbation, assent, assentment, authorization, consent, sanction

noun

Meaning 2

the act of disapproving or condemning

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: approval

Broader terms: judgment, judgement, assessment

Narrower terms: disparagement, dispraise, condemnation, stigmatization, stigmatisation, branding

noun

Meaning 3

an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: disfavor, disfavour, dislike

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inclination, disposition, tendency

Narrower terms: doghouse, reprobation

noun

Meaning 4

the expression of disapproval

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: approval

Broader terms: message, content, subject matter, substance

Narrower terms: disapprobation, condemnation, criticism, unfavorable judgment, discouragement

noun

Meaning 5

a feeling of disliking something or what someone is doing

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: approval

Broader terms: dislike

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin dis- Old French des-bor. Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English approval English disapproval From dis- + approval.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Azerbaijani: qınaq — disapproval
Belarusian: неадабрэ́нне (njeadabrénnje) — disapproval
Bulgarian: неодобрение (neodobrenie) — disapproval
Bulgarian: порицание (poricanie) — disapproval
Catalan: desaprovació — disapproval
Dutch: afkeuring — disapproval
Finnish: vastustus — disapproval
French: désapprobation — disapproval
Galician: desaprobación — disapproval
German: Missbilligung — disapproval
Greek: αποδοκιμασία (apodokimasía) — disapproval
Hungarian: helytelenítés — disapproval
Hungarian: rosszallás — disapproval
Italian: disapprovazione — disapproval
Latin: improbātiō — disapproval
Malayalam: വിസമ്മതം (visammataṁ) — disapproval
Māori: kirikiriā — disapproval
Polish: dezaprobata — disapproval
Romanian: dezaprobare — disapproval
Russian: неодобре́ние (neodobrénije) — disapproval
Sanskrit: असंमति (asaṃmati) — disapproval
Spanish: desaprobación — disapproval
Swedish: ogillande — disapproval
Ukrainian: несхва́лення (nesxválennja) — disapproval

Word forms

Inflections and variants

disapprovals — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: none provided

Related: disapprobation, disapprove, objection, opposition, condemnation, no

Semantic map

Other relationships

Hypernyms: judgement, judgment, assessment, inclination, disposition, tendency, message, content, subject matter, substance, dislike

Hyponyms: self-abnegation, disparagement, dispraise, condemnation, stigmatization, stigmatisation, branding, doghouse, reprobation, disapprobation, criticism, unfavorable judgment, discouragement

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

disapproval in complete knowledge articles