dispiriting
Britishadjective
Other Word 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.
That’s a dispiriting prospect, since smaller stocks have already suffered a lot since hitting a high earlier this year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
A few weeks ago at the end of a dispiriting workday, I dragged my husband to an outdoor show headlined by The Breeders.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
To a certain extent, the results have been dispiriting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The latest inflation report marks a dispiriting end to Jerome Powell’s eight-year tenure as Fed Chair.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
The hardest part was coming to terms with the constant dispiriting discovery that there is always more hill.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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