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 of disgruntled

• dissatisfied
• frustrated

Examples of disgruntled in a Sentence

a disgruntled postal worker was responsible for the vandalism

Recent Examples on the Web

Random shots of fans around the arena during Saturday’s loss showed long, disgruntled faces. —Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026

And, perhaps, how the disgruntled AI agents will react to the eternal grind of the work day. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2026

The company rejected the measure, dismissing Friedmann as a disgruntled ex-convict, but his campaign got widespread attention. —James Verini, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026

Before Babikian got the #EndFanatics movement going on X, the account @FanaticsSucks was the clearinghouse for disgruntled Fanatics customers. —A.j. Perez, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of disgruntle

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above