disheartening

[dis-hahr-tn-ing]

adjective

1. depressing a person’s hope, courage, or spirits; discouraging.

   It's been disheartening to see some of her old habits and fears returning, even though they aren't as bad as when she was much younger.

Other Word Forms

• dishearteningly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of disheartening¹

dishearten ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The news was good, but also disheartening: Toyota Motor was planning to build its first stand-alone factory in the U.S., but her state wasn’t in consideration.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ashley Maggs, Jersey Airport's operations director, said the situation was disheartening but that it was working to ensure people travelling were not displaced.

Read more on BBC

"Instead of openness, cooperation and outward focus, the environment has too often felt toxic, exclusionary and deeply disheartening."

Read more on BBC

"It's so disheartening that politicians seem unable to learn the lessons from a decade of social media."

Read more on BBC

“It was disheartening to not see that in the stadium this year, when there was an even bigger problem going on.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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• astounding 
• awful 
• dire 
• dreadful 
• frightening www.thesaurus.com
• frightful 
• ghastly 
• harrowing 
• hideous 
• horrible 
• horrific 
• shocking 
• terrible 
• terrifying