dispiriting
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
- dispiritingly adverb
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.
Scotland face a washout of a Six Nations campaign after suffering a dispiriting opening loss to Italy in rain-soaked Rome.
From BBC • Feb. 7, 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
And they can be deeply dispiriting when they don’t work.
From Slate • Dec. 19, 2025
It was a vibrant and dispiriting time, and Elie’s history is a sharp cross-cultural study that speaks to the present as well.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025
For four dispiriting years, he had hectored government officials to place the program on the fast track.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
