Displeasure

How to spell displeasure

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce displeasure

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does displeasure mean?

1. nounA feeling of annoyance, dissatisfaction, or disapproval.

Displeasure in a sentence

• The manager made his displeasure clear when the report arrived late.

• She frowned in obvious displeasure at the cluttered kitchen.

Where does displeasure come from?

Language of origin: French

This word is built on the noun 'pleasure', which English took from the Old French 'plaisir', itself from the Latin verb 'placere', meaning 'to please' or 'to be pleasing'. The 'dis-' prefix, also from Latin, signals the opposite or the undoing of something, so 'displeasure' literally names the absence or reversal of pleasure. The form emerged in late Middle English in the 1400s, modelled on the French 'desplaisir', and it carried the sense of dissatisfaction or annoyance from the start. The same 'placere' root quietly survives in a family of relatives such as 'placid', 'placate', and 'complacent', all touching on the idea of calm or pleasing. For spelling, the trap is the silent feel of the middle: it keeps the whole word 'pleasure' intact after 'dis-', so the 'ea' and the soft 's' (sounding like the 'zh' in 'measure') are easy to mishandle.

How the word is built

• dis- (opposite, reversal)
• pleas (from Latin placere: to please)
• -ure (noun suffix)