deject

[dih-jekt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR deject ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to depress the spirits of; dispirit; dishearten: Such news dejects me.

adjective

Archaic. dejected; downcast.

Origin of deject

1375–1425; late Middle English dejecten (v.) < Latin dējectus (past participle of dējicere to throw down), equivalent to dē- de- + -jec-, combining form of jacere to throw + -tus past participle suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for deject

dishearten, dispirit, discourage

Examples from the Web for deject

Historical Examples of deject

The things which do not disturb her temper may, perhaps, deject her spirits.
A Strange Story, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
And I alone, of all men “most deject and wretched,” survive them all.
The Life of Florence Nightingale vol. 1 of 2
Edward Tyas Cook
This did not dishearten or deject the golden party; far from it.
Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete.
Francois Rabelais
I must deject you now and make you listen to me; there is not much more to hear.
Look Back on Happiness
Knut Hamsun
For one, the worst event of this day, though it may deject, shall not break or subdue me.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. III. (of 12)
Edmund Burke

British Dictionary definitions for deject

deject

verb

(tr) to have a depressing effect on; dispirit; dishearten

adjective

archaic downcast; dejected

Word Origin for deject

C15: from Latin dēicere to cast down, from de- + iacere to throw

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deject

early 15c., "to throw or cast down," from Old French dejeter (12c.), from Latin deiectus "a throwing down, felling, fall," past participle of deicere "to cast down, destroy; drive out; kill, slay, defeat," from de- "down" + -icere, comb. form of iacere "to throw" (see jet (v.)). Originally literal; the sense of "depress in spirit" is c.1500.