失望|しつぼうshitsubou[0]heiban (flat)

JLPT N3approx.Common
Definitions
  1. noun, suru verb, intransitive verbdisappointment; despair
    私はその結果けっかに失望しつぼうした。↗
    I was disappointed at the results.
Conjugation
Dictionary form失望する(しつぼうする)
Polite (masu)失望します(しつぼうします)
Negative (nai)失望しない(しつぼうしない)
polite (masen)失望しません(しつぼうしません)
classical zu / nu失望せず・失望せぬ(しつぼうせず・しつぼうせぬ)
Past (ta)失望した(しつぼうした)
polite (mashita)失望しました(しつぼうしました)
Past negative (nakatta)失望しなかった(しつぼうしなかった)
polite (masen deshita)失望しませんでした(しつぼうしませんでした)
Te form失望して(しつぼうして)
Potential失望できる(しつぼうできる)
Passive失望される(しつぼうされる)
Causative失望させる(しつぼうさせる)
Causative passive失望させられる(しつぼうさせられる)
Conditional (ba)失望すれば(しつぼうすれば)
tara失望したら(しつぼうしたら)
Volitional失望しよう(しつぼうしよう)
polite (mashou)失望しましょう(しつぼうしましょう)
Imperative失望しろ(しつぼうしろ)

Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.

Synonyms & antonyms
  • Synonym絶望ぜつぼうNeutralFar stronger than 「失望」: all hope is completely gone, not merely dashed expectations.
  • Synonym失意しついWrittenWritten/formal prose. Suggests thwarted ambitions and dejection, as in 「失意のどん底」; 「失望」 centers on hopes being dashed.
  • Synonym拍子抜けひょうしぬけNeutralAn anticlimax or let-down: feeling flat when things prove less than expected; 「失望」 puts more weight on hopes actually being crushed.
  • Related悲観ひかんNeutralViewing things pessimistically, expecting the worst; 「失望」 is the feeling that follows when hopes are dashed.
  • RelatedやけCasualColloquial. Giving up on oneself, as in 「やけになる」; 「失望」 is the feeling of losing hope when expectations come to nothing.
  • Related自暴自棄じぼうじきWrittenA four-character idiom, written/formal: the state of abandoning and neglecting oneself; 「失望」 is a feeling, 「自暴自棄」 a state.
  • Related捨て鉢すてばちNeutralA reckless, devil-may-care attitude of having given up; 「失望」 is the feeling of dashed hopes and need not involve such extreme behavior.
  • Related絶念ぜつねんWrittenWritten/formal and rare: giving up a hope or plan. In daily speech use 「諦める」.
  • RelatedやけっぱちCasualColloquial. Cracking up and acting wildly because everything seems lost; 「失望」 is a feeling and need not lead to such behavior.
  • RelatedやけのやんぱちCasualColloquial set phrase for going all out with a who-cares, past-caring attitude; 「失望」 is a feeling only and implies no such action.
  • Antonym期待きたいNeutralPsychological antonym: expecting or looking forward to something good — the state that 「失望」 negates.
  • Antonym希望きぼうNeutralPsychological antonym: hope, the wish for something good, the opposite of 「失望」.

Use 「失望」 when hopes or expectations come to nothing. For complete loss of all hope say 「絶望」; for expecting the worst, 「悲観」; for a let-down, 「拍子抜け」; for giving up on yourself, 「やけ」 or 「自暴自棄」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

Japanese definitions
  1. 期待きたいが外はずれて希望きぼうを失うしなうこと。
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also

JLPT vocabulary levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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