Standard Lemma guide

dissatisfaction

noun · 3 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /dɪsˌsætɪsˈfækʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /dɪsˌsætɪsˈfækʃən/
  • Canada, General-American: [dɪsˌsæɾɪsˈfækʃən]
  • Australian: /dɪsˌsætɪsˈfækʃən/
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH2 S AE0 T IH0 S F AE1 K SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Unhappiness or discontent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Job dissatisfaction results in high turnover.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The cause of such feelings.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the feeling of being displeased and discontent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he was never slow to express his dissatisfaction with the service he received

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: satisfaction

Broader terms: discontentment, discontent, discontentedness

Narrower terms: boredom, ennui, tedium, displeasure, disappointment, letdown

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des-bor. ▲ Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English satisfaction English dissatisfaction From dis- + satisfaction.

Across languages

Translations

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: դժգոհություն (džgohutʻyun) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Belarusian: нездаво́ленасць (njezdavóljenascʹ) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Belarusian: нездавальне́нне (njezdavalʹnjénnje) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Bulgarian: недово́лство (nedovólstvo) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Catalan: insatisfacció — unhappiness or discontent
  • Catalan: descontentament — unhappiness or discontent
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不滿 /不满 (bùmǎn) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不滿足 /不满足 (bù mǎnzú) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不滿意 /不满意 (bù mǎnyì) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Czech: nespokojenost — unhappiness or discontent
  • Danish: utilfredshed — unhappiness or discontent
  • Dutch: ontevredenheid — unhappiness or discontent
  • Finnish: tyytymättömyys — unhappiness or discontent
  • French: insatisfaction — unhappiness or discontent
  • French: mécontentement — unhappiness or discontent
  • German: Unzufriedenheit — unhappiness or discontent
  • Greek: δυσαρέσκεια (dysaréskeia) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Greek: δυσαρέστηση (dysaréstisi) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Ancient Greek: δυσαρέστησις (dusaréstēsis) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Hebrew: מורת רוח — unhappiness or discontent
  • Hebrew: חוסר סיפוק — unhappiness or discontent
  • Hungarian: elégedetlenség — unhappiness or discontent
  • Icelandic: óánægja — unhappiness or discontent
  • Italian: insoddisfazione — unhappiness or discontent
  • Italian: scontentezza — unhappiness or discontent
  • Japanese: 不満 (fuman) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Japanese: 不満足 (fumanzoku) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Kazakh: қанағаттанбаушылық (qanağattanbauşylyq) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Korean: 불만 (bulman) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Korean: 불만족 (bulmanjok) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Macedonian: незадоволство (nezadovolstvo) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Malayalam: അസംതൃപ്തി (asantr̥pti) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Malayalam: അതൃപ്തി (atr̥pti) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Māori: matangurunguru — unhappiness or discontent
  • Māori: nanu — unhappiness or discontent
  • Norwegian: utilfredshet — unhappiness or discontent
  • Norwegian: misnøye — unhappiness or discontent
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: misnøye — unhappiness or discontent
  • Portuguese: descontentamento — unhappiness or discontent
  • Portuguese: insatisfação — unhappiness or discontent
  • Romanian: insatisfacție — unhappiness or discontent
  • Romanian: nemulțumire — unhappiness or discontent
  • Romanian: neplăcere — unhappiness or discontent
  • Russian: недово́льство (nedovólʹstvo) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Russian: неудовлетворённость (neudovletvorjónnostʹ) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Spanish: disgusto — unhappiness or discontent
  • Swedish: missnöje — unhappiness or discontent
  • Telugu: అసంతుష్టి (asantuṣṭi) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Ukrainian: незадово́лення (nezadovólennja) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Ukrainian: невдово́леність (nevdovólenistʹ) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Ukrainian: невдово́лення (nevdovólennja) — unhappiness or discontent
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不滿 /不满 (bùmǎn) — cause of such feelings
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不滿足 /不满足 (bù mǎnzú) — cause of such feelings
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不滿意 /不满意 (bù mǎnyì) — cause of such feelings
  • Finnish: tyytymättömyyden aihe — cause of such feelings
  • Russian: неудовлетворённость (neudovletvorjónnostʹ) — cause of such feelings
Real reading context

dissatisfaction in complete knowledge articles