discontent

English

Etymology

From dis- +‎ content.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌdɪskənˈtɛnt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

discontent (countable and uncountable, plural discontents)

1. (uncountable) Dissatisfaction.
   • 1961 February, “Talking of Trains: Phase II units in service”, in Trains Illustrated, page 69:

     Another source of discontent with the Phase I stock has been obviated by relocation of the interior heating elements and the introduction of thermostatic control; this has eradicated the searing blasts of hot air passengers used to feel about their calves [...].

   • 2024 June 5, Sarah Dean and David McKenzie, “Jacob Zuma has made a dramatic comeback in South Africa’s elections. Will he have the last laugh over Ramaphosa?”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Analysts and opinion polls had forecast losses for the ANC but a pivotal factor in the party’s staggering decline was former President Jacob Zuma and his newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which capitalized on widespread discontent within the ANC’s traditional voter base.

2. (uncountable) A longing for better times or circumstances.
   • c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     Now is the winter of our diſcontent, / Made glorious ſummer by this ſonne of Yorke: / And all the cloudes that lowrd vpon our houſe, / In the deepe boſome of the Ocean buried.

   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 1:

     Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.

3. (countable) A discontented person; a malcontent.

Derived terms

• discontentful
• discontentive
• Winter of Discontent

Related terms

• discontented

Translations

dissatisfaction — see dissatisfaction

a longing for better times

• Finnish: tyytymättömyys (fi)

a discontented person

• Bulgarian: недоволник m (nedovolnik)
• Czech: nespokojenec (cs) m
• Finnish: tyytymätön (fi)
• Icelandic: einhver sem er óánægður m, einhver sem er óánægð f, eitthvað sem er óánægt, eitthvert sem er óánægt n, uppreisnarseggur m
• Spanish: descontento (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} mécontentement (fr), ^{(please verify)} protestation (fr)
• German: ^{(please verify)} Unzufriedenheit (de) f

Verb

discontent (third-person singular simple present discontents, present participle discontenting, simple past and past participle discontented)

1. To deprive of contentment; to make uneasy; to dissatisfy.

Adjective

discontent (comparative more discontent, superlative most discontent)

1. Not content; discontented; dissatisfied.
   • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 22:

     [...] Paſſion seemed to be much diſcontent, but Patience was very quiet. Then Chriſtian aſked, What is the reaſon of the diſcontent of Paſſion.