Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event.
  • transitive verb To cause to feel chagrin; mortify or discomfit: synonym: embarrass.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Mental disquiet and pain from the failure of aims or plans, want of appreciation, mistakes, etc.; mortification; vexation.
  • noun Synonyms Vexation, etc. See mortification.
  • noun See shagreen.
  • To excite a feeling of chagrin in; vex; mortify.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Vexation; mortification.
  • adjective Chagrined.
  • intransitive verb To be vexed or annoyed.
  • transitive verb To excite ill-humor in; to vex; to mortify.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Distress of mind caused by a failure of aims or plans, want of appreciation, mistakes etc; vexation or mortification.
  • verb transitive To bother or vex; to mortify.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun strong feelings of embarrassment
  • verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, possibly from dialectal French chagraigner, to distress, become gloomy, from Old French graim, sorrowful, gloomy, of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French chagrin ("sorrow"). Prior to that, the etymology is unclear, with several theories – of Germanic or possibly Turkish origin.

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Examples

  • Sol Witberg would have bitten his bruised and swollen lip in chagrin, had it not hurt so much.

    The Benefit of the Doubt 2010

  • Federer, much to his chagrin, is in perfect position to make that comparison.

    King of clay: Nadal powers way to fourth straight French crown 2008

  • "It would have been too much to see those Groucho Marx eyebrows knitted together in chagrin as Clint strode past them to the podium once more."

    GreenCine Daily: Oscars. 2007

  • She said a simple, “Oh,” looked away from Areel and the jury, let an expression of chagrin come over her, and peered down at the floor in contrition.

    The Case of the Colonist’s Corpse Bob Ingersoll 2004

  • She said a simple, “Oh,” looked away from Areel and the jury, let an expression of chagrin come over her, and peered down at the floor in contrition.

    The Case of the Colonist’s Corpse Bob Ingersoll 2004

  • She said a simple, “Oh,” looked away from Areel and the jury, let an expression of chagrin come over her, and peered down at the floor in contrition.

    The Case of the Colonist’s Corpse Bob Ingersoll 2004

  • To live as Nature ordained, though with many a concern and many a chagrin, is infinitely preferable to living in relative ease and serenity, in opposition to Nature's demands.

    Courtship After Marriage 1969

  • To live as Nature ordained, though with many a concern and many a chagrin, is infinitely preferable to living in relative ease and serenity, in opposition to Nature's demands.

    Courtship After Marriage 1921

  • I BET with every Wind that blew, till Nature in chagrin

    The Single Hound: Poems of a Lifetime 1914

  • Sol Witberg would have bitten his bruised and swollen lip in chagrin, had it not hurt so much.

    The Benefit of the Doubt 1913

Comments

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  • Has any heard this word in any expression except "much to my"?

    December 2, 2006

  • not only heard, but used.

    December 9, 2006

  • Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin 'n Hobbes, lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

    December 14, 2006

  • Yes, "much to his/her" ;)

    October 6, 2007

  • an orange cyclops-eye, scorning to look

    longer on this landscape of chagrin;

    from "Winter Landscape, With Rooks," Sylvia Plath

    March 31, 2008

  • I am disappointed to learn that 'chagrin' = "irritation" is now believed not to come from the Turkish for "horse's bum". I do hope the OED find the old story is true when they get round to revising C.

    July 8, 2010

  • If I dont come out of my GREs in flying colors, I will be in a state of Chagrin.

    August 30, 2012

  • Overconfidence often results in was Chagrin.

    October 1, 2013