dejected
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dejected
Explanation
If you're ejected from an important game, you're going to feel dejected. If you're rejected by the love of your life, you'll feel dejected again. Dejected goes beyond down––it's having given up hope. "After the theater was burned down by Mrs. Jud, the deranged school secretary, the drama students were too dejected even to sing "Pore Jud is Daid" from Oklahoma, the only song that might have made them feel better."
Vocabulary lists containing dejected
Dissed List: Breakup Words for Valentine's Day
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 3
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The Giver
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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.
Meckler has been following the Angels since age 5 and remembers feeling dejected after attending the Angels’ 4-1 home loss to the Royals in Game 2 of the 2014 American League Division Series.
From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2026
Embassy in Bujumbura, Burundi, she watched anxiously as applicant after applicant left dejected.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
"We've all experienced losses but everyone was really dejected after that," he said.
From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026
The world number three was crushed by the Ukrainian 6-1, 6-2 in the Melbourne quarter-finals and left centre court after the handshake cutting a dejected figure.
From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026
The dejected doorman blew his nose loudly in a Westing Man-Sized Hankie.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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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.