Word.ws English Dictionary

disaffected

/dɪsəˈfɛktɪd/

disaffected is the simple past and past participle of disaffect.

Adjective

disaffected (comparative more disaffected, superlative most disaffected)

  1. Alienated or estranged, often with hostile effect.
    • Near-synonyms: malcontent, resentful, disloyal, rebellious, vengeful
    • The main reason for this state of affairs is probably that, for the exceptionally able man who accepts the present order of society, a multitude of other avenues to influence and power are open, while to the disaffected and dissatisfied an intellectual career is the most promising path to both...1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 427
  2. (obsolete) Affected with disease.

Meaning of disaffect

Verb

disaffect (third-person singular simple present disaffects, present participle disaffecting, simple past and past participle disaffected)

  1. (transitive) To cause a loss of affection, sympathy or loyalty in; to alienate or estrange.

Synonyms of disaffected

Forms of disaffected

comparativemore disaffected
superlativemost disaffected

Origin of disaffected

From disaffect + -ed.

Words formed from disaffected

Questions about disaffected

What does disaffected mean?
Disaffected means alienated or estranged, often with hostile effect.
What is disaffected the simple past and past participle of?
Disaffected is the simple past and past participle of disaffect.
What part of speech is disaffected?
Disaffected is an adjective.
How do you pronounce disaffected?
Disaffected is pronounced /dɪsəˈfɛktɪd/ (UK).

Words near disaffected in the dictionary

  1. disadvised
  2. disadvises
  3. disadvising
  4. disaffect
  5. disaffectation
  6. disaffected
  7. disaffectedly
  8. disaffectedness
  9. disaffecting
  10. disaffection
  11. disaffectionate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: disaffected (page history and authors); disaffect (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-disaffected.wav.

Cite this entry: “disaffected.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/disaffected. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.