: lack of satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation : lack of contentment:
a
: a sense of grievance : dissatisfaction
the winter of our discontent—
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
b
: restless aspiration (see aspiration sense 1a) for improvement
discontented; discontenting; discontents
: to make dissatisfied or discontented
were discontented by the decision
: one who is dissatisfied or discontented : malcontent
Examples of discontent in a Sentence
Adjective
Polls show that voters are growing increasingly discontent.
a novel about a woman who is desperately discontent with the stifling limitations of her small-town life
Noun (1)
the rebels worked to stir up discontent among the citizens
Verb
the ongoing lack of decent food discontented and demoralized the soldiers in the rebel army
Recent Examples on the Web
Mike Jones, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
Ishiba’s cabinet approval rating dropped to an all-time low of 27.4%, as voters grow increasingly discontent with the administration’s failure to address soaring rice prices and rejection of consumption tax cuts in response to rising inflation, according to a Kyodo News poll released Sunday.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 21 May 2025
Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent data shows that discontent is a growing problem in today’s workplaces.
—Rebecca Knight, Harvard Business Review, 29 Oct. 2025
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2025
Humans are the only animals known to be discontented with natural selection.
—Tad Friend, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discontent
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Adjective
Brown, who will miss Week 8 with a hamstring injury, still seems somewhat discontent over his usage.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
Ishiba’s cabinet approval rating dropped to an all-time low of 27.4%, as voters grow increasingly discontent with the administration’s failure to address soaring rice prices and rejection of consumption tax cuts in response to rising inflation, according to a Kyodo News poll released Sunday.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 21 May 2025
Noun
That has, reportedly, added to the general discontent from people in the know about Andrew and Fergie being allowed to stay in the property despite their numerous scandals.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent data shows that discontent is a growing problem in today’s workplaces.
—Rebecca Knight, Harvard Business Review, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
In other posts, Minaj criticized Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, nodding to discontent between her and the label.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2025
Humans are the only animals known to be discontented with natural selection.
—Tad Friend, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discontent
Cite this Entry
“Discontent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discontent. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
discontent
1 of 3 adjective
dis·con·tent
ˌdis-kən-ˈtent 
discontent
2 of 3 verb
: to make discontented
discontentment
noun
-mənt
discontent
3 of 3 noun
: the condition of being dissatisfied
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