displease

verb dis·please \ (ˌ)dis-ˈplēz \

Definition of displease

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

See displease defined for English-language learners

See displease defined for kids

Examples of displease in a Sentence

her coworkers' tendency to pry displeased her

Recent Examples of displease from the Web

Apparently not when Trump is looking for a way to impress upon Mitch McConnell (who has supplied most of the money for Strange’s campaign) the costs involved in displeasing the White House.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Could Trump Be About to Stab Luther Strange in the Back?," 26 Aug. 2017
His deep need for approval from the Times leads to him being particularly hurt when the newspaper writes something that displeases him, O’Brien said.

— Washington Post, "New York Times a favorite Trump target - and interview venue," 20 July 2017
These days when an airline displeases a customer and said customer goes on social media to complain, the airline will bend over backwards not to engage or enrage.

— george hobica, Fortune, "Dear Ann Coulter: You’re a Big Crybaby," 17 July 2017
They got spanked by the Warriors in five games, then made a surprise move — one that apparently displeased LeBron James — by parting ways with general manager David Griffin.

— des bieler, chicagotribune.com, "Cavaliers remain in turmoil with Chauncey Billups passing up chance to run team," 4 July 2017
While police may be able to prevent Xi from seeing anything that displeases him, drowning out the many Hong Kong protest songs might be a more difficult task.

— james griffiths, CNN, "Hong Kong handover: The protest symbols China's scared of," 26 June 2017
Top Democrat on the panel Sen. Mark Warner was particularly displeased with the secrecy, which DHS said was necessary to preserve trust from its local partners.

— tal kopan, CNN, "Russian hacking hearings: 6 takeaways," 21 June 2017
Rep. Ed Trimmer, a Winfield Democrat, said he was concerned that issues with both the equity and the adequacy of the formula may displease the state’s high court.

— hunter woodall, kansascity.com, "Legislature rolls back Brownback tax cuts after midnight; he immediately says he’ll veto," 5 June 2017
Orthodox Church displeasedThe director, Aleksei Y. Uchitel, is bewildered by the early criticism.

— neil macfarquhar, The Seattle Times, "Film about Czar’s affair with ballerina kicks off cultural warfare in Russia," 3 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'displease.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.