displease

verb

dis·​please (ˌ)dis-ˈplēz How to pronounce displease (audio)
displeased; displeasing; displeases

transitive verb

1
: to incur the disapproval or dislike of especially by annoying
their gossip displeases her
2
: to be offensive to
abstract art displeases him

intransitive verb

: to give displeasure
behavior calculated to displease

Examples of displease in a Sentence

her coworkers' tendency to pry displeased her
Recent Examples on the Web Canada is home to one of the world’s largest Sikh diaspora communities and is the site of Sikh activism that has displeased the Indian government. Lyric Li, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023 By imposing the tariffs on goods from China, the idea was to get China to buy more U.S. goods and change trade policies that displeased the U.S. Alan Wolff, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2023 These witnesses of her that have grown out of her can startle or displease her with the independence—the non-bias—of their observations. Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 10 Sep. 2023 But the judge was also displeased by a decision by Butina’s lawyer to publicly rebut the accusation, and issued a gag order. Devlin Barrett, Spencer S. Hsu and Isaac Arnsdorf, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Aug. 2023 On the editorial side, Ida Lewis fired Gillespie as managing editor, something that displeased Ed, a decision that led him to fire her. Shelby Stewart, Essence, 19 Aug. 2023 The Sunday job was also considered a rejoinder at times to views expressed by the show-making/show-breaking chief theater critic Frank Rich, especially when the latter was displeased with a production. Adam Bernstein, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2023 His passion for daguerreotype photography displeased the college president and angered his own family, according to an autobiographical letter written by Washington. Richard Grant, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 June 2023 Shareholders have been displeased with Bayer since 2016 when then-new CEO Baumann initiated the $63 billion merger with U.S. agricultural giant Monsanto. Eamon Barrett, Fortune, 10 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'displease.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English displesen, from Anglo-French despleisir, desplere, from des- dis- + pleisir to please — more at please

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of displease was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near displease

Cite this Entry

“Displease.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/displease. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

displease

verb
dis·​please (ˈ)dis-ˈplēz How to pronounce displease (audio)
: to cause to feel disapproval, dislike, or annoyance
was displeased by the delay

More from Merriam-Webster on displease

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