Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event: To her chagrin, the party ended just as she arrived.
- v. To cause to feel chagrin; mortify or discomfit: He was chagrined at the poor sales of his book. See Synonyms at embarrass.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See shagreen.
- n. Mental disquiet and pain from the failure of aims or plans, want of appreciation, mistakes, etc.; mortification; vexation.
- n. Synonyms Vexation, etc. See mortification.
- To excite a feeling of chagrin in; vex; mortify.
Wiktionary
- n. Distress of mind caused by a failure of aims or plans, want of appreciation, mistakes etc; vexation or mortification.
- n. A type of leather or skin with a rough surface.“PAGENAME” in OED Online, Oxford University Press, 1989.
- v. To bother or vex; to mortify.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Vexation; mortification.
- v. To excite ill-humor in; to vex; to mortify.
- v. To be vexed or annoyed.
- adj. Chagrined.
WordNet 3.0
- n. strong feelings of embarrassment
- v. cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
Etymologies
- French, possibly from dialectal French chagraigner, to distress, become gloomy, from Old French graim, sorrowful, gloomy, of Germanic origin.
Examples
“Federer, much to his chagrin, is in perfect position to make that comparison.”
King of clay: Nadal powers way to fourth straight French crown
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I BET with every Wind that blew, till Nature in chagrin”
“Sol Witberg would have bitten his bruised and swollen lip in chagrin, had it not hurt so much.”
“Sol Witberg would have bitten his bruised and swollen lip in chagrin had it not hurt so much.”
“Just remember there are so many fans that we love u and we will wait as long as it takes you to writting midnight sun just promise that you will do it you will continue writting it please ray Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 04: 29 PM EST also, she uses the word chagrin far too often in her writing. thesaurus please!”
“An expression of chagrin twisted Lord Trinslow’s features.”
“KING: And I remember an unusual night here at the CNN studios when we were doing a show during the O.J. Simpson trial and scheduled on the show much to our chagrin was the judge who made that decision.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘chagrin’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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bad memory
copper, anvil, oblique, thrust, shrine, welfare, farewell, bitter, faction, sectarian, tangible, spectacle and 132 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
qroqqa 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. Jul 8, 2010
ofravens an orange cyclops-eye, scorning to look
longer on this landscape of chagrin;
from "Winter Landscape, With Rooks," Sylvia Plath Mar 31, 2008
orbitalcombustion Yes, "much to his/her" ;) Oct 5, 2007
oroboros Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin 'n Hobbes, lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Dec 14, 2006
andrew.simone not only heard, but used. Dec 9, 2006
seanahan Has any heard this word in any expression except "much to my"? Dec 2, 2006