disagreeable

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as inherited from Middle English disagreable,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French desagreable,^[4][2][5][6] recorded from the late 13th century as desagraable,^[7][4] from des- (“not, opposite of”) and agreable (“pleasing, in agreement, consenting”),^[4] based on agreer (“to agree”).^[5] The revised OED instead treats it as an English formation from dis- and agreeable, modelled on Middle French desagreable, now désagréable.^[7][8][9] The OED compares Old Occitan desagradable, Catalan desagradable and Spanish desagradable.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears before 1425 (perhaps written before 1400) in the Romaunt of the Rose, which Benson's concordance lists as Chaucer apocrypha, rendering the French word: "Love..is Caribdis perilous, Disagreable and gracious".^[2][7][10] The OED reads this as "not in harmony, discordant",^[7] the MED as "unamiable, unpleasant".^[2] Etymonline has about 1400,^[4] and Dictionary.com 1350–1400.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, "not in agreement, discordant", is now rare; it is older than the English verb disagree, and Merriam-Webster and the Shorter Oxford treat it as obsolete.^[7][3][9] Applied to people, the word meant "ill-tempered, unfriendly" by 1474, in Caxton,^[7] though the Shorter Oxford's date for this sense is the early 18th century.^[9] Applied to things and experiences, "not to one's liking, unpleasant", it is recorded from 1570,^[7] earlier than the 1690s given by Etymonline and the late 17th century of the Shorter Oxford.^[4][9] Johnson (1755) gives "contrary; unsuitable" first and then "unpleasing; offensive".^[11] From about 1785 to 1844 it could also describe someone who feels uncomfortable or ill at ease,^[7] a use the Shorter Oxford calls chiefly American.^[9] The noun, an unpleasant thing and chiefly in the plural, is from 1726, in Defoe, and a noun for an unpleasant person from 1785.^[7] A form unagreeable had the same sense slightly earlier, in the late 14th century.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1425 – not in agreement, discordant, in the Romaunt of the Rose.^[7][2]
• 1474 – of a person, ill-tempered, unfriendly.^[7]
• 1570 – not to one's liking, unpleasant.^[7] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1690s.^[4]
• 1726 – noun, an unpleasant thing, chiefly in the plural.^[7]
• c. 1785 – uncomfortable, ill at ease (obsolete by 1844).^[7]
• 1785 – noun, an unpleasant person.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not to one's liking; unpleasant or offensive: It was a disagreeable walk through the sleet.^[12][3][7]
2. Bad-tempered, unfriendly or rude: a disagreeable old neighbour.^[12][3][7]
3. (now rare) Not in agreement; discordant, incongruous.^[7][3][9]

Noun

1. An unpleasant thing or experience, chiefly in the plural.^[7][9]
2. (now rare) An unpleasant person.^[7]

Word family

• disagreeableness
• disagreeably
• undisagreeable

Related words

• agreeable
• disagree

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins