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Glite Dictionary
disillusioning

disillusioning

2 6.7
Making someone see that something is not as good as it seemed
  • adjective
  • /ˌdɪsɪˈluːʒənɪŋ/
translation icon : desilusionante
  • The teacher's disheartening comments about my project were disillusioning and made me doubt my abilities.
  • disillusioning experience
  • profoundly disillusioning
  • the most disillusioning

So that was very, you know, disillusioning, I guess.

Examples

  • It was strangely disillusioning now to discover that she was virtually free from their power.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Incidents like this are undoubtedly disillusioning to many Obama supporters from 2008 who believed that electing an African American to the nation's highest office.

    Blog text (1)

  • I am told by colleagues who have also appeared in court that my disillusioning experience is not unique.

    Academic text (2004)

  • A parish ministry day by day, week by week, year by year, could often be a deeply disillusioning experience.

  • Ultimately, he cannot deal with the disillusioning realization that the real woman does not match his world of make-believe.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The outcome or end of the history of philosophy, Nietzsche announces, would appear to be profoundly disillusioning.

    Academic text (1995)

  • This first venture into the courtroom, Ackerman wrote in the journal Medical Heritage in 1985, "had a profoundly disillusioning impact on me."

    Academic text (2004)

  • The academy is no longer as openly partisan as it was during the turmoil of the 1960s, when Sidney Hook described the behavior of his colleagues at New York University as "after the loss of the Socialist dream, the most disillusioning experience of my life."

    Academic text (1996)

  • I'm very sorry, Jen, that you've had these disillusioning experiences; likely it was bound to happen sooner or later, but don't let them cause you to tar everyone in.

    Blog text (2)

  • Seeing the truth behind the glamorous lifestyle of celebrities can be quite disillusioning for many fans.

Synonyms

disheartening
vsdisillusioning
26 5.2

Causing someone to lose confidence or hope

points to destroying false beliefs rather than merely lowering spirits
dispiriting
vsdisillusioning
5 6.3

To make someone lose hope or confidence

emphasizes revealing truth about worth rather than simple discouragement
demoralizing
vsdisillusioning
3 6.7

To make someone lose confidence or hope

targets belief illusions specifically rather than general morale loss
disenchanting
vsdisillusioning
7.5

Making someone or something seem less special by showing the truth

is about breaking false beliefs about how good something seems

Antonyms

to delude
48 6.3

Make someone believe something that is not true

How Disillusioning

devastating
224 5.1
disillusioning
2 6.7
disturbing
304 4.2
disheartening
26 5.2
disappointing
190 1.4

Surface Forms

disillusioning positive

Morphology

disillusioning = disillusion (semi-transparent) = dis + illusion + ing

The adjective is a standard participial formation from the verb 'disillusion' meaning 'causing to disillusion'.

Etymology

Disillusioning comes from the prefix dis- meaning 'not' and illusion meaning 'a false idea' or 'something that seems real but is not'. So something that is disillusioning 'takes away' a false belief and makes you see the truth.