disheartened
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disheartened
First recorded in 1610–20; dishearten ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective; dishearten ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb
Explanation
When you're disheartened, you feel discouraged or let down. It's easy to become disheartened if the grades on your report card don't reflect the hard work and dedication you exerted. You might be disheartened to read about the high unemployment rate in the newspaper, or disheartened by the way your carefully constructed rocket ship cake flopped. When you feel your spirits sink or your courage fail, you're disheartened. The first recorded use of the word dishearten showed up in Shakespeare's play Henry V, where he invented it to mean the opposite of hearten, or "encourage."
Vocabulary lists containing disheartened
Tuck Everlasting
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The Cay
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The Wishing Spell
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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.
She says she "wasn't as persistent as I should have been" when it came to trying out for different roles and easily "got disheartened", thinking "maybe this isn't for me".
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026
He speculated that scholars and Americans in general were too disheartened by Vietnam to want to contemplate a traumatic rupture like the Civil War.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
"I am disheartened and sad each and every day... that we are told immigrants, which most of us are or descended from are unwelcome," wrote the 84-year-old Stewart.
From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026
“I think everyone would be super disheartened to learn that maybe it would be human-caused,” Harper said, confirming that there is a remote trail that provides hikers access to the tree.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
Re-reading these brief moralistic appraisals usually left me disheartened.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
