Discomfiture
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Defeat in battle. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 2 anxious embarrassment wordnet
- 3 An emotional state similar to that arising from defeat; frustration, disappointment, perplexity or embarrassment. countable, uncountable
"Some of us are concerned because as yet the South shows no penitence. But what exactly do we mean by this? Since down to the close of the war she never confessed any for braving it, the only penitence now left her is that which springs solely from the sense of discomfiture; and since this evidently would be a contrition hypocritical, it would be unworthy in us to demand it."
Example
More examples"There were influences that tempered the joys of leaf-kicking—some "meanie" was always ready to hide a big rock, or other disagreeable foreign substance, under a particularly inviting bunch of leaves—then watch and giggle at your discomfiture when you came innocently ploughing along!"
Etymology
From Old French desconfiture (“rout, defeat”); compare French déconfiture.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.