: lack of satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation : lack of contentment:
a
: a sense of grievance : dissatisfaction
the winter of our discontent—
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
b
: restless aspiration (see aspiration sense 1a) for improvement
discontented; discontenting; discontents
: to make dissatisfied or discontented
were discontented by the decision
: one who is dissatisfied or discontented : malcontent
Synonyms
Examples of discontent in a Sentence
Adjective
Polls show that voters are growing increasingly discontent.
a novel about a woman who is desperately discontent with the stifling limitations of her small-town life
Verb
the ongoing lack of decent food discontented and demoralized the soldiers in the rebel army
Recent Examples on the WebManuel Veth, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
But many long-time moderators remain discontent, and some of the updates haven't materialized yet.
—Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 4 Sep. 2023
Biden has also grappled with anemic approval and favorability ratings that suggest voters are discontent with both politicians.
—Fritz Farrow, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2023
Things got so bad that even the national government, which is battling sky-high inflation and an increasingly discontent society, found the time to intervene — only to retreat when its effort was mocked as a waste of government resources.
—Natalie Alcoba, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2022
Dacus: Mine is that Julien and Phoebe are way more willing to be discontent than me (and express that).
—Chris Willman, Variety, 3 Apr. 2023
What there is in abundance, though, is discontent not just about the glacial rollout, but a poor communications strategy.
—William Pesek, Forbes, 16 Apr. 2021
But not everyone was discontent.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2022
There could already be discontent brewing in Green Bay’s locker room, as Rodgers appeared visibly frustrated with errors that his new receiving corps committed.
—Catena Media, al, 18 Sep. 2022
Douglas Schoen, Orange County Register, 11 Apr. 2024
Netanyahu is facing mounting public displays of discontent, from the families of Israeli hostages as well as the growing number of people taking to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to demand new elections.
—Jeremy Diamond, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
However, Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are seeing discontent among their parties rise.
—Mansee Khurana, NPR, 3 Apr. 2024
Employees at multiple stores put handwritten notes on the storefront windows requesting donations to employees’ Venmo accounts, and expressing discontent with Merrill’s management.
—Jasmine Li, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024
And as Gaza’s deepening humanitarian plight hardens grassroots Arab views of Israel, a number of rulers in the region see Mr. Biden’s vision as the best – and perhaps the only – way of defusing the popular discontent that might threaten their leadership.
—Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2024
And average prices are still well above their pre-pandemic levels — a source of discontent for many Americans and potentially a threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.
—Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
And average prices are still well above their pre-pandemic levels — a source of discontent for many Americans and potentially a threat to President Joe Biden's re-election bid.
—Christopher Rugaber, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2024
Several parents also joined together to express discontent with the coming cuts, including by forming a petition asking the district to explore other potential budget cuts – which had 328 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
—Luis Melecio-Zambrano, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024
Sam Palmisano, Foreign Affairs, 14 Oct. 2016
Hollman's death has contributed to discontent with police among some Atlantans that centers on a proposal to build a public safety training center.
—CBS News, 10 Oct. 2023
As a historical analogy, consider the Soviet Union, which collapsed, in part, because those who were discontented with the regime had no freedom to leave.
—Alexander Lebedev, Foreign Affairs, 22 Oct. 2014
Dozens of people traveled up to the Monday’s meeting in the state capital of Austin to voice their support or discontent with the plan.
—Valerie Gonzalez, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2024
Dozens of people traveled up to the Monday's meeting in the state capital of Austin to voice their support or discontent with the plan.
—Valerie Gonzalez, Quartz, 6 Mar. 2024
As Variety previously reported, several sources say the group, which also include Emma Stone and Ben Affleck, are feeling discontented within the guild ever since talks broke down with the studios.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 19 Oct. 2023
Hollman's death has contributed to discontent with police among some Atlantans that centers on a proposal to build a large public safety training facility.
—CBS News, 10 Oct. 2023
On the other hand, though, Peruvians themselves were discontent.
—Cynthia McClintock, Foreign Affairs, 5 Feb. 2013
Adjective
The decision to put an end date on Tuchel’s time at Bayern, in many ways, feels like a band-aid to calm down both the dressing room and also an increasingly discontent fan scene.
—Manuel Veth, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
But many long-time moderators remain discontent, and some of the updates haven't materialized yet.
—Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 4 Sep. 2023
Biden has also grappled with anemic approval and favorability ratings that suggest voters are discontent with both politicians.
—Fritz Farrow, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2023
Things got so bad that even the national government, which is battling sky-high inflation and an increasingly discontent society, found the time to intervene — only to retreat when its effort was mocked as a waste of government resources.
—Natalie Alcoba, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2022
Dacus: Mine is that Julien and Phoebe are way more willing to be discontent than me (and express that).
—Chris Willman, Variety, 3 Apr. 2023
What there is in abundance, though, is discontent not just about the glacial rollout, but a poor communications strategy.
—William Pesek, Forbes, 16 Apr. 2021
But not everyone was discontent.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2022
There could already be discontent brewing in Green Bay’s locker room, as Rodgers appeared visibly frustrated with errors that his new receiving corps committed.
—Catena Media, al, 18 Sep. 2022
Noun
To that point, Progressives’ discontent has already shown up in the Democratic primaries.
—Douglas Schoen, Orange County Register, 11 Apr. 2024
Netanyahu is facing mounting public displays of discontent, from the families of Israeli hostages as well as the growing number of people taking to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to demand new elections.
—Jeremy Diamond, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
However, Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are seeing discontent among their parties rise.
—Mansee Khurana, NPR, 3 Apr. 2024
Employees at multiple stores put handwritten notes on the storefront windows requesting donations to employees’ Venmo accounts, and expressing discontent with Merrill’s management.
—Jasmine Li, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024
And as Gaza’s deepening humanitarian plight hardens grassroots Arab views of Israel, a number of rulers in the region see Mr. Biden’s vision as the best – and perhaps the only – way of defusing the popular discontent that might threaten their leadership.
—Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2024
And average prices are still well above their pre-pandemic levels — a source of discontent for many Americans and potentially a threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.
—Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
And average prices are still well above their pre-pandemic levels — a source of discontent for many Americans and potentially a threat to President Joe Biden's re-election bid.
—Christopher Rugaber, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2024
Several parents also joined together to express discontent with the coming cuts, including by forming a petition asking the district to explore other potential budget cuts – which had 328 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
—Luis Melecio-Zambrano, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024
Verb
If these issues are ignored, discontent with globalization will grow.
—Sam Palmisano, Foreign Affairs, 14 Oct. 2016
Hollman's death has contributed to discontent with police among some Atlantans that centers on a proposal to build a public safety training center.
—CBS News, 10 Oct. 2023
As a historical analogy, consider the Soviet Union, which collapsed, in part, because those who were discontented with the regime had no freedom to leave.
—Alexander Lebedev, Foreign Affairs, 22 Oct. 2014
Dozens of people traveled up to the Monday’s meeting in the state capital of Austin to voice their support or discontent with the plan.
—Valerie Gonzalez, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2024
Dozens of people traveled up to the Monday's meeting in the state capital of Austin to voice their support or discontent with the plan.
—Valerie Gonzalez, Quartz, 6 Mar. 2024
As Variety previously reported, several sources say the group, which also include Emma Stone and Ben Affleck, are feeling discontented within the guild ever since talks broke down with the studios.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 19 Oct. 2023
Hollman's death has contributed to discontent with police among some Atlantans that centers on a proposal to build a large public safety training facility.
—CBS News, 10 Oct. 2023
On the other hand, though, Peruvians themselves were discontent.
—Cynthia McClintock, Foreign Affairs, 5 Feb. 2013
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'discontent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near discontent
Cite this Entry
“Discontent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discontent. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
discontent
1 of 3 adjective
dis·con·tent
ˌdis-kən-ˈtent 
discontent
2 of 3 verb
: to make discontented
discontentment
noun
-mənt
discontent
3 of 3 noun
: the condition of being dissatisfied
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