Opposite of Disappoint(ing)
Todd Krueger
disappointed, disappointing, etc.?
Is "appointed" acceptable as the opposite adjectival form?
As in "Last night, I was disappointed that she did not stay for tea, but I
was appointed this morning when the important package arrived early"
Please respond promptly.
Thanks,
TK
Fergus Duniho
tkru...@students.wisc.edu (Todd Krueger) writes:
>What is the/an opposite for the verb "disappoint" and its forms,
>disappointed, disappointing, etc.?
"Disappoint" is close in meaning to "displease," whose opposite is
"please." But "disappoint" makes reference to expectations, whereas
"please" and "displease" do not. We can understand "disappoint" to
mean "to displease by dashing hopes or by not meeting expectations."
The strict opposite of "disappoint" would mean "to please by
fulfilling hope or by meeting expectations." I do not know of a word
that means precisely this. This may be because you can fail to meet
expectations in an instant, whereas you meet expectations by
continuing to meet them. A less strict opposite of "disappoint" would
mean "to please by raising hopes or exceeding expectations." I do not
know a word for this either. I think you will generally want to use
"please" as the opposite of "disappoint." Its forms are "pleased,"
"pleasing," etc.
Yet another less strict opposite might mean "to please by quelling
fears or by removing apprehensions." Words such as "relieve,"
"mitigate," and "allay" have meanings something like this.
>Is "appointed" acceptable as the opposite adjectival form?
No. The two words are unrelated in meaning.
>As in "Last night, I was disappointed that she did not stay for tea, but I
>was appointed this morning when the important package arrived early"
You should probably say "... I was pleased this morning ..." or "... I
was pleasantly surprised this morning ..." or "... I was relieved this
morning ...". It all depends on the context.
Here is how "disappoint" may be contrasted with different opposites:
"I was disappointed that she was busy and couldn't make much time for
me, but I was pleased that she gave me her phone number."
"I was disappointed when she didn't show up, but I was relieved to
learn that it was an emergency that kept her away."
--
Fergus Duniho, fd...@troi.cc.rochester.edu, INTP, Enneagram 6
"You teach best what you most need to learn."
Mark Line
>What is the/an opposite for the verb "disappoint" and its forms,
>disappointed, disappointing, etc.?
pleased? satisfied?
>Is "appointed" acceptable as the opposite adjectival form?
No.
>As in "Last night, I was disappointed that she did not stay for tea, but I
>was appointed this morning when the important package arrived early"
I would only use 'appointed' to mean 'named to office', as in the
Appointed Carver of Turkey.
-- Mark
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Desperado
: What is the/an opposite for the verb "disappoint" and its forms,
: disappointed, disappointing, etc.?
: Is "appointed" acceptable as the opposite adjectival form?
: As in "Last night, I was disappointed that she did not stay for tea, but I
: was appointed this morning when the important package arrived early"
Maybe you can use "please" or "glad". "appointed" gives the impression that
I have an appointment when .......
Submarine
Fred Lukoff
>: What is the/an opposite for the verb "disappoint" and its forms,
>: disappointed, disappointing, etc.?
>: Is "appointed" acceptable as the opposite adjectival form?
>: As in "Last night, I was disappointed that she did not stay for tea, but I
>: was appointed this morning when the important package arrived early"
I don't think "appointed" is acceptable as the opposite adjectival form;
"appointed" is what you are done to a post or position usually. I think
"encourage" might be a good opposite for "disappoint".
BEN LUKOFF
blu...@SAS.UPenn.edu
F.Grant Whittle
euphemism for fire. "I don't think Harris is doing his
job very well, so I'm just going to have to disappoint
him."
F.
Chipmunk
fd...@troi.cc.rochester.edu (Fergus Duniho) writes:
> "I was disappointed when she didn't show up, but I was relieved to
> learn that it was an emergency that kept her away."
Well, I never! And supposing the emergency was a death in the family?
Would you still be relieved? :-)
Ronald
Mark Line
(alias Ben Lukoff at UPenn)
>I don't think "appointed" is acceptable as the opposite adjectival form;
>"appointed" is what you are done to a post or position usually. I think
>"encourage" might be a good opposite for "disappoint".
Of course, how stupid of me. Encouraging *is* the opposite of
disappointing. Pipe my earlier suggestions into /dev/null. At least
somebody's got it together.
Fergus Duniho
(Chipmunk) writes:
>Ronald
If I had taken her not showing up personally, I would be relieved
insofar as the death in the family indicated that her not showing up
was not a reflection on me. But if I cared about her, my relief would
be overshadowed by distress over her situation.