deterred

American

[dih-turd] / dɪˈtɜrd /

adjective

discouraged or restrained from acting or proceeding.

A visible thief is a deterred thief, so installing motion-sensing lights on your property helps to protect it.
kept from happening; prevented or checked.

Assuming that those 79,000 deterred property crimes have an average cost of $1,900 each, that’s a savings of over $150 million.

verb

the simple past tense and past participle of deter.

Other Word Forms

undeterred

adjective

Etymology

Origin of deterred

deter ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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.

While there, Ho opposed several major rules, saying they imposed undue burdens on auditors and deterred new entrants into the field.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

Allies are assured, and adversaries are deterred, by appearances of strength and signals of commitment.

From Slate • May 27, 2026

But Viking’s core customer base of older, wealthier Americans hasn’t been deterred from traveling, Talactac and Hagen told Barron’s last month.

From Barron's • May 14, 2026

Still, that has not deterred hikers from heading up the 1,335m-tall mountain.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

If a criminal thinks his potential victim may be armed, he may be deterred from committing the crime.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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