disheartening

American

[dis-hahr-tn-ing] / dɪsˈhɑr tn ɪŋ /

adjective

depressing a person’s hope, courage, or spirits; discouraging.

It's been disheartening to see some of her old habits and fears returning, even though they aren't as bad as when she was much younger.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

dishearteningly

adverb

Etymology

Origin of disheartening

dishearten ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Explanation

Something disheartening causes you to lose your confidence or enthusiasm. It's disheartening when your basketball team loses four games in a row. Breaking disheartening down to its parts, you can see the dis- prefix, meaning "not" or "take away," and the figurative heart, "good feelings or courage." While a heartening message from your pen pal cheers you up, anything disheartening does the opposite. A disheartening grade on your big English paper brings you down, and disheartening news can make your whole family feel a little depressed. If it's disheartening, it's a bummer.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Shelly Corbin, a Native American activist who participated in the “Reimagining” meetings, found the federal suit disheartening.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

"It is particularly disheartening that any opportunity for this location to be developed as a meaningful community or tourism asset now appears to be lost," he said.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026

Her performances at the Grand Slams have generally been disappointing and the limp manner in which she lost in the Australian Open second round was particularly disheartening.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

The most disheartening aspect of Mr. Pielke’s op-ed is that his peer-reviewed efforts to correct the record were met with silence.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

That afternoon, Takumi and I had learned the disheartening results of our first major precalc test of the semester.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023