“I was kind of disappointed with how they turned out, to be honest.”

English Lesson: I was kind of disappointed with how they turned out, to be honest.

You baked cupcakes for a party. Someone complimented you on them, but you weren't satisfied with them.

I was kind of disappointed with how they turned out, to be honest.

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kind of (adjective/adverb)

"Kind of" means "a little" or "somewhat". People often use it in spoken English:

I'm kind of shy when it comes to the opposite sex.

It kind of took me by surprise.

You can use "kind of" before an adjective ("kind of shy") or before a verb ("kind of took me by surprise").

Another phrase with a similar meaning is "somewhat":

Most students find that university courses are somewhat more difficult than the classes that they took in high school.

"Somewhat" is more formal. Use "kind of" for most situations and "somewhat" when discussing academic topics or in writing.

The pronunciation of "kind of" sounds like "kinda".

I was disappointed

When you're sad because something wasn't as good as you hoped or expected, you can say that you were "disappointed":

I was disappointed because I had hoped we'd get a chance to meet him.

We say we are “disappointed with” something (not someone):

I was disappointed with the new version.

 And you can say that you're "disappointed in" a person:

They're probably disappointed in me.

Remember that you use "___ed" to talk about how you feel:

I was kind of disappointed.

And you use "___ing" to give your opinion of something:

It (the movie) was kind of disappointing.

Other words that work in this way are:

To be honest, (sentence)

Use this phrase when you're not really sure that you should share an opinion, but you share it anyway:

To be honest, I don't really agree with the direction the company is going in these days.

You can also include words like "completely" and "perfectly":

To be completely honest... I think that he's a creep and he's just using her for her money.

You can also put "to be honest" at the end of a sentence:

I've never really liked action movies, to be perfectly honest.

turn out (adjective)

You use “turn out” to talk about the finished result of something. “Turn out” suggests that, while something was happening, you were unsure (and maybe concerned) about how it would be in the end.

I didn’t have any eggs but it turned out fine anyway!

Hey, how did your show turn out?

The dye was red but it turned out kind of orange.