Dissatisfied vs. Unsatisfied
Don’t mix up dissatisfied with unsatisfied. Dissatisfied applies only to people who are unhappy, frustrated or disappointed with a thing, person or situation. Examples:
- I was dissatisfied with the service I received at the restaurant.
- She was dissatisfied with his response to her question.
Unsatisfied refers to the feeling of needing more and can be used with abstract items. Examples:
- Despite the hearty meal, his hunger remained unsatisfied.
- She has had the bill for three weeks, but it still remained unsatisfied.
The adjective is dissatisfaction.
Here are some quotations from publications around the web:
No, that’s not a real statistic. Yet Ilana hasn’t been alone in her sexual frustration. Several shows recently have been depicting women as unsatisfied. Like Ilana, they’re determined to do something about it — and a finding man isn’t necessarily part of the equation. – LA Times
More people than ever are dissatisfied with the products and services they buy, according to a new report from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. And when there is a problem, we’re less happy with the customer service we receive. – USA Today
Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:
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3 Responses to “Dissatisfied vs. Unsatisfied”
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Rob
‘She has had the bill for three weeks, but it still remained unsatisfied’ is incomprehensible; how about “……but it remains unpaid? If you want to use the word ‘unsatisfied’ look for a different sentence.
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Jeff
Dissatisfied may exclude non-humans. However, I think that Unsatisfied can include humans as well as the abstract.
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Dave
On the page for unsatisfied vs dissatisfied, you have…..
“The adjective is dissatisfaction” .
That’s obviously not correct. (Noun).
Hope this helps.
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