hearten
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hearten
Explanation
Things that hearten you cheer you up. A welcome home party will hearten even the weariest traveler. You might buy flowers for your grandmother to hearten her after a difficult week, or hearten a shy tap dancer with applause after his routine. Things that encourage or inspire, whether it's the sight of your dog waiting for you outside school or another person's success, can also be said to hearten. The figurative meaning of heart — as in "losing heart" or having a "change of heart" — is at the root of hearten, from the Old English heorte, "heart, soul, or spirit."
Vocabulary lists containing hearten
The Crucible
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This Week in Words : January 19 - 25, 2019
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Every Day
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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.
Will ye not, therefore, a little Hearten, impel, and inspire 10 One who adores, with a favour Threefold in wonder?
From Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics by Carman, Bliss
Said the men, "From this day forth, thou art under his protection"; and she replied, "Hearten me by eating a bit and drinking a sup of water."
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 07 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Hearten thy heart and when I call out to thee and say, 'O damsel pass on!' do not slacken thy pace, but advance as if about to run.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 03 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Hearten us onward! as with fire Consuming dreams of other bliss.
From The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke by Brooke, Rupert
Our long-dead brothers of the roundelay, Whose meed was wine, who held that praise was pay, Hearten ye by their lives, ye singers of to-day!
From Legends & Romances of Spain by Spence, Lewis
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.
