WORD OF THE DAY: CHAGRIN
noun | shuh-GRIN
What It Means
Chagrin refers to a feeling of frustration or annoyance caused by failure or disappointment.
// I decided to take a gap year to the chagrin of my parents.
Examples of CHAGRIN
“Hundreds of fans decked out in Dodger blue crammed into Tokyo Haneda Airport’s arrival hall dreaming of pointing at and snapping a photo of the team or their favourite player. To their chagrin, the airport constructed partitions that blocked any view of the squad.” — Andrew J. Campa, The Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2025.
Did You Know?
Despite what its second syllable may lead one to believe, chagrin has nothing to do with grinning or amusement—quite the opposite, in fact. Chagrin, which almost always appears in phrases such as “to his/her/their chagrin,” refers to the distress one feels following a humiliation, disappointment, or failure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the word’s French ancestor, the adjective chagrin, means “sad.” What may be surprising is that the noun form of the French chagrin, meaning “sorrow” or “grief,” can also refer to a rough, untanned leather (and is itself a modification of the Turkish word sağrı, meaning “leather from the rump of a horse”). This chagrin gave English the word shagreen, which can refer to such leather, or to the rough skin of various sharks and rays.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
