displease

/dɪsˈpliz/

/dɪsˈpliz/

Other forms: displeased; displeasing; displeases

When you displease someone, you disappoint them or make them unhappy. Your dog's loud barking at 5 AM is sure to displease your neighbors.

The prefix dis- is often used to signify the opposite of something, and displease is no exception: it means to do the opposite of pleasing someone. Your terrible grades will displease your parents and your teachers, not to mention you, and being served your least favorite foods at your birthday dinner will also displease you. Please has a Latin root, placere, "be acceptable, be liked, or be approved."

Definitions of displease

1. verb

   give displeasure to
   antonyms:

   please

   give pleasure to or be pleasing to

   please

   give satisfaction

   types:

   annoy, bother, chafe, devil, get at, get to, gravel, irritate, nark, nettle, rag, rile, vex

   cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

   repel, repulse

   be repellent to; cause aversion in

   dissatisfy

   fail to satisfy

   get, get under one's skin

   irritate

   eat into, fester, fret, gnaw, grate, rankle

   gnaw into; make resentful or angry

   peeve

   cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful

   ruffle

   trouble or vex

   fret

   cause annoyance in

   beset, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, harass, harry, hassle, molest, plague, provoke

   annoy continually or chronically

   antagonise, antagonize

   provoke the hostility of

   churn up, disgust, nauseate, revolt, sicken

   cause aversion in; offend the moral sense of

   put off, turn off

   cause to feel intense dislike or distaste

   discontent

   make dissatisfied

   disgruntle

   put into a bad mood or into bad humour