What does displease mean?
To displease is to cause someone to feel annoyed, offended, or dissatisfied — in other words, to fall short of pleasing them. The verb typically takes a person as its object: a decision may displease voters, a remark may displease a host, and a servant's error may once have displeased a monarch. It carries a somewhat formal register; in casual conversation people are more likely to say they were upset, bothered, or annoyed. The word is frequently used in the passive form "to be displeased with" something, as in "she was displeased with the results." Its opposite, please, shares its Latin root placēre, meaning "to be acceptable or agreeable." Because displeasure implies a judgment of conduct or quality rather than mere inconvenience, the word often appears in contexts of authority, etiquette, or expectation — situations where someone's approval was sought and not obtained. It remains common in formal writing, diplomacy, and historical narration.
verbTo displease someone is to cause them to feel annoyance, dissatisfaction, or offense; to fail to please or satisfy them.
- To cause annoyance, dissatisfaction, or offense to someone; to fail to please.
"The committee's abrupt decision displeased several longtime members of the board."
"The new seating arrangements displeased the regular patrons of the theatre."
"He was careful never to displease his superiors during his early years at the firm."
"Please" and "displease" both trace back to the same Latin root placēre, "to be acceptable" — so to displease someone is literally to make yourself unacceptable to them.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of displease
Displease entered English from Old French desplaisir, formed by adding the negative prefix des- to plaisir ("to please"), which itself derives from Latin placēre, "to be acceptable." The word has been part of English since the medieval period, appearing in Middle English texts. It belongs to a large family of English words descended from the same Latin root, including pleasure, pleasant, placid, and placate.
Related word forms
How displease is actually used
Somewhat formal in tone; in everyday speech, speakers more often use words like "upset," "annoy," or "bother." Common constructions include "displeased with" (something) and "displeased at" or "displeased by" (a fact or action). Often used with intensifiers such as "greatly" or "much."
Easily confused with displease
Displeasure is the noun referring to the feeling of annoyance or dissatisfaction, while displease is the verb meaning to cause that feeling.