disgruntled

adjective

dis·​grun·​tled dis-ˈgrən-tᵊld 

: unhappy and annoyed

a disgruntled employee

She led her sodden and disgruntled team back into the changing rooms, insisting that the practice had not been a waste of time, though without any real conviction in her voice.

—J. K. Rowling

… a $300,000 refund pool for disgruntled former customers …

—Kevin McGurk

The crowd was up as well, and just as disgruntled as it had been the night before.

—Christopher Cooper & Robert Block

Synonyms

• dissatisfied
• frustrated

Examples of disgruntled in a Sentence

a disgruntled postal worker was responsible for the vandalism

Recent Examples on the Web

The disgruntled defensive playmaker and the organization are heading for a split, as contract talks have once again stalled. —James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Aug. 2025

Enough time for a disgruntled worker to do the digital equivalent of keying the company Ferrari while maintaining perfect deniability. —Raghu Para, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025

And the proliferation of sports gambling has added fuel to this fire of online abuse as disgruntled bettors take out their frustrations on athletes. —Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2025

Characters become more disgruntled as time passes, and reality becomes blurred. —Macie Rasmussen, Twin Cities, 3 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of disgruntle

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above