déçus

Déçus is the masculine plural form of the French adjective déçu, meaning disappointed. The feminine singular is déçue, the masculine singular is déçu, and the feminine plural is déçues. As an adjective, déçu describes a noun that has not met expectations and agrees in gender and number with that noun. In some contexts it can also function as a past participle in compound tenses of the verb décevoir.

The term can be used as a noun phrase, especially in social or political discourse, to refer to a group of people who feel disappointment or disillusionment. For example, the phrase les déçus is employed to describe individuals or segments who feel let down by a policy, an event, or a broader situation. In this usage, the word carries connotations of unmet expectations and, sometimes, a sense of betrayal or loss of trust.

Etymology traces déçu to the verb décevoir, itself derived from Latin decipere, meaning “to deceive.” Over time, the sense shifted from the notion of being deceived to the experience of disappointment when reality fails to meet one’s hopes or promises. The development reflects a broader linguistic pattern where deception and disappointment are closely linked in French usage.

See also: décevoir, déception, décevant. The term remains common in everyday language as well as in rhetorical or analytical writing to characterize attitudes of dissatisfaction or disillusionment.