dispiriting
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Explanation
Things that discourage you or make you feel hopeless are dispiriting. It can be dispiriting when the candidate you've supported and campaigned for loses the election. Anything that makes you lose your sense of enthusiasm is dispiriting. Watching your favorite basketball team be defeated over and over again is dispiriting. If you're counting on friends to plan something fun for your birthday and they completely forget about it, that's dispiriting too. This adjective stems from the verb dispirit, and its parts, dis, "lack of," and spirit, "life or inspiration."
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.
Overall, it paints a dispiriting picture of the current state of creative affairs in the city.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Then came the dispiriting loss to the Warriors and the 40-year-old Paul’s opportunity to get in the last meme, even though it wasn’t exactly original.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
"When we keep getting a 'no' it's kind of dispiriting, we have got to keep pushing."
From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026
Thomas Frank faced fresh calls for his dismissal from angry Tottenham fans after a dispiriting 2-2 draw at Premier League strugglers Burnley on Saturday as Bournemouth ended Liverpool's long unbeaten run.
From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026
The days on the galleries had been uniformly dispiriting.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
