Definitions

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

  • noun The condition or fact of being displeased; dissatisfaction.
  • noun Discomfort, uneasiness, or pain.
  • noun Archaic An injurious offense.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of feeling displeased; specifically, a feeling of intense or indignant disapproval, as of an act of disobedience, injustice, etc.: as, a man incurs the displeasure of another by thwarting his views or schemes; a servant incurs the displeasure of his master by neglect or disobedience; we experience displeasure at any violation of right or decorum.
  • noun Discomfort; uneasiness; dolefulness: opposed to pleasure.
  • noun Offense; umbrage.
  • noun A displeasing or offensive act; an act which causes, or is fitted to cause or rouse, a feeling of dissatisfaction, annoyance, or resentment; an ill turn or affront: generally preceded by do.
  • noun A state of disgrace or disfavor.
  • noun Synonyms Dissatisfaction, disapprobation, distaste, dislike, anger, vexation, indignation, resentment, annoyance.
  • To displease; be displeasing or annoying to: as, it displeasures me to see so much waste.

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

  • noun The feeling of one who is displeased; irritation or uneasiness of the mind, occasioned by anything that counteracts desire or command, or which opposes justice or a sense of propriety; disapprobation; dislike; dissatisfaction; disfavor; indignation.
  • noun That which displeases; cause of irritation or annoyance; offense; injury.
  • noun obsolete State of disgrace or disfavor; disfavor.
  • transitive verb obsolete To displease.

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

  • noun A feeling of being displeased with something or someone; dissatisfaction.
  • noun Pain or discomfort.
  • noun Disapproval.

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

  • noun the feeling of being displeased or annoyed or dissatisfied with someone or something

Etymologies

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

[Middle English displesure, from Old French desplaisir : des-, dis- + plaisir, pleasure; see pleasure.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

dis- +‎ pleasure

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Examples

  • But now his displeasure is against her; he is angry with her, and appears and acts against her as an enemy.

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721

  • And confronted by adult displeasure from the Obama Adm., the angry response is – YOU CAN'T MAKE ME.

    Conference of Presidents Parrots Avigdor Lieberman « Antiwar.com Blog 2009

  • But our dislike of Shiver served only to remind us of a certain displeasure we have been feeling lately with young adult fiction in general and YA aimed at teenage girls in particular; namely, the Enfeebled Heroine.

    Today's Book Review 2009

  • The political waters were roiled to an extent by Mayor Koch's vigorous endorsement of Turner, which Koch explained as an expression of displeasure at Obama's apparent lack of affection for Israel.

    Henry J. Stern: September Surprise? Henry J. Stern 2011

  • Either way, for us to sit in judgment of people who are offended by the decision and using a relatively direct method to communicate their displeasure is not any less childish than the method they have chosen.

    Kindle users revolt! 2010

  • But our dislike of Shiver served only to remind us of a certain displeasure we have been feeling lately with young adult fiction in general and YA aimed at teenage girls in particular; namely, the Enfeebled Heroine.

    Archive 2009-11-01 2009

  • The political waters were roiled to an extent by Mayor Koch's vigorous endorsement of Turner, which Koch explained as an expression of displeasure at Obama's apparent lack of affection for Israel.

    Henry J. Stern: September Surprise? Henry J. Stern 2011

  • Her displeasure is predominantly for the Republicans in the chamber who have institutionalized the filibuster to halt the legislative process.

    Pelosi To Progressives, Pundits: Don't Blame Us For Senate's Shortcomings The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • Voicing displeasure is what the 'Party of No' does.

    GOP reiterates health care displeasure 2009

  • You don't like these, I'm more than certain, but your displeasure is not the same as their nonexistence.

    Bunny and a Book 2008

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