(someone is) disappointed in (someone)

When you're "disappointed", it means that you're a little sad because something wasn't as good as you expected it to be. You can be "disappointed with" a movie, a sports team's performance, and so on:

Betty was kind of disappointed with how her cupcakes turned out.

But when you say that you're "disappointed in" a person, it means that someone who you used to have a high opinion of did something bad. So now you can't respect that person as much.

The phrase "disappointed in ___" is usually used when you're talking about your children, your employees, or someone else with lower status. If you directly tell someone that you're disappointed, it's a pretty serious statement and makes it sound like you have authority over that person:

Son, I'm disappointed in you.

You might tell someone this if you found out that they did something immoral like lying, cheating on their partner, or stealing something.

This phrase appears in these lessons: