disappointment

Etymology

disappoint + -ment

noun

1. (uncountable) The feeling or state of being disappointed: a feeling of sadness or frustration when something is not as good as one hoped or expected, or when something bad unexpectedly happens.
   Even a trip to beautiful California can cause disappointment.
   Choking back his disappointment after his own team's splendid wins against Liverpool and Aston Villa, he said: "I've got to be humble and say we were beaten by a very good side." 1992, News Group Newspapers Ltd, Today
2. (countable) An example or the act of disappointing: a circumstance in which a positive expectation is not achieved.
   The disappointment with our trip to California caused bickering.
   For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places. May 5, 2012, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
   As the disappointments crowded in — the economy, Rhodesia, strife within the trade-union movement — Wilson tried the expedient of a semi-formal inner Cabinet, or Parliamentary Committee, as he misleadingly liked to call it. 1990, Peter Hennessy, Cabinet, Basil Blackwell Ltd
3. (countable) Something or someone that disappoints: that which causes disappointment.
   Even a trip to beautiful California can be a disappointment.
   What a disappointment!