dishearten
Americanverb (used with object)
-
disheartens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disheartened,
past participle, past
-
disheartening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disheartensimple
-
disheartenssimple
-
have disheartenedperfect
-
has disheartenedperfect
-
am dishearteningprogressive
-
are dishearteningprogressive
-
is dishearteningprogressive
-
have been dishearteningperfect progressive
-
has been dishearteningperfect progressive
Past
-
disheartenedsimple
-
had disheartenedperfect
-
was dishearteningprogressive
-
were dishearteningprogressive
-
had been dishearteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dishearten
Explanation
If someone tells you not to be disheartened, they want you to stay upbeat and positive. Something that brings you down or steals your sense of hope disheartens you. Uncracking the code of the verb dishearten couldn't be easier. Just take it apart, and it quickly reveals its meaning. Dis- is a prefix that means "not, un-, take away." Heart in its figurative sense means love, care, and good feelings. And the -en at the end shows the word is a verb with the sense of causing something to be. So dishearten means "to cause someone's 'heart' to be taken away." We were disheartened by the news of still more home foreclosures.
Vocabulary lists containing dishearten
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 2
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Starfish
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The Thing About Luck
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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.
See Examples For:
Many young voters say that would dishearten them.
From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026
I began to wonder what we were going to find in this wasteland, but I didn’t want to say anything to dishearten Duncan.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024
In “On Fire,” Naomi Klein’s purpose is not to dishearten but to awaken us to the growing global movement called the Green New Deal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
Each day, 22 people die in want of organs, which should dishearten all Americans.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 31, 2023
“Do not be dishearten, young bahss. Today, we will be foun, to be true.”
From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor
“It saddens me, it disgusts me and disheartens me,” Alvarez said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2023
"It disgusts me and disheartens me that people in our nation seem incapable of being decent people."
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2022
It allows those who are responsible to remain unaccountable, and it disheartens those who seek to do the right thing.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2021
“These words have no place on News10NBC’s air, and the fact that we broadcast them disheartens and disgusts me; that it was not caught immediately is inexcusable,” he said in the statement.
From Slate ● Jan. 8, 2019
The reaction of our solitary emotions, after a social impulse of such peculiar excitement, very much disheartens and depresses us.
From Henrietta Temple A Love Story by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield
The plant's owner insists it adheres to required emission thresholds, but the government's closure U-turn has left some locals disheartened.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 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
Mr Rose said he was "disheartened" by Theo's experience and said it was the first time in his 30-year career he had "seen this side of policing".
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
Buchalter added that investors were likely more disheartened by Broadcom’s announcement of a fifth unnamed customer that it will deliver $1 billion of custom chips to late next year.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025
When Pete gave the signal, Louie would stretch out his long legs and his opponents would scatter and drop away, in the words of a reporter, “sadly disheartened and disillusioned.”
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
"It is disheartening to see news channels," said Sukhjeet Narula, 28, a software professional.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
“That’s really kind of disheartening — that we’ve tried our best to mitigate fires ... yet fires are destroying more homes,” said Amanda Carlson, a research scientist with the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
For the millions of Burmese who have risked their lives and left their homes to oppose military rule, these are disheartening times.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
After decades of looking forward to the freedom of a less stressful lifestyle, it is disheartening to be faced with difficult choices when income and savings fall short.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Mr. Curtain was turning the pages with disheartening speed, but Reynie dared not interrupt again.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
