discontent
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a feeling of being unhappy or not satisfied with your life, job, or a situation.
n.a state of dissatisfaction or lack of contentment; often used to describe a general mood of unhappiness within a group.
Simple“There is growing discontent among the staff regarding the new office rules.”
In context“Widespread economic discontent eventually led to a series of protests across the capital as citizens demanded better living standards.”
Antonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
n.a person who is not happy with the way things are and wants change.
n.a person who is dissatisfied or rebellious; a malcontent.
Simple“The political party was full of discontents who wanted to replace the leader.”
In context“The king feared that the local discontents would unite with foreign agents to destabilise the border regions.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
v.to make someone feel unhappy or not satisfied.
v.to deprive of contentment or to make someone dissatisfied. This transitive use is less common than the adjective form.
Simple“The constant changes to the schedule began to discontent the workers.”
In context“Nothing seemed to discontent him more than the sight of wasted resources and inefficient management.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
adj.feeling unhappy or not satisfied with what you have.
adj.not content; dissatisfied with one's circumstances. Often replaced by 'discontented' in modern usage.
Simple“He lived a discontent life, always wishing he were somewhere else.”
In context“The discontent population grew increasingly vocal as the winter food shortages worsened.”
Synonyms
“Along with Watkins, Villa must resolve Martinez's future after a second summer of discontent from the Argentina international.”
“For a long time, the core of Turkiye’s discontent with Israel was the Palestinian issue.”
From dis- + content.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.