I read a line in my textbook that goes:
Negative effects may arise due to a 'betrayal' of expectations when people involved fail to understand the situational context.
Can the word 'betrayal' and 'expectations' be used together? Does it seem awkward when viewed by a native speaker?
Best Answer
"betray" in this context has the following meaning:
The "expectations" are taking the place of "promise" in the definition and so the phrase "betrayal of expectations" would mean something akin to "acting in way we did not expect" or "acting against expectations."
Your example sentence as a whole sounds a little strange to me but the phrase "betrayal of expectations" is perfectly acceptable.