dishearten

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /dɪsˈhɑrtən/ UK /dɪsˈhɑːtən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to cause to lose hope, courage, or enthusiasm

The setback did not dishearten the determined crew.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to cause to lose hope,... discourage dispirit demoralize depress deject dismay daunt

Opposites

hearten encourage inspire cheer embolden

Word family

Forms disheartened

Derived forms dishearteningdisheartenmentdisheartened

Related forms hearten heart

Etymology

From dis- ('reversal') + hearten, from heart + -en; heart from Old English heorte, from Proto-Germanic *hertô, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- ('heart').

heorte Old English *hertô Proto-Germanic *ḱerd- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# dishearten

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /dɪsˈhɑrtən/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪsˈhɑːtən/

## Meanings
1. to cause to lose hope, courage, or enthusiasm

## Examples
- The setback did not dishearten the determined crew.

## Synonyms
- discourage
- dispirit
- demoralize
- depress
- deject
- dismay
- daunt

## Antonyms
- hearten
- encourage
- inspire
- cheer
- embolden

## Derived Forms
- disheartening
- disheartenment
- disheartened

## Related Forms
- hearten
- heart

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: heorte
- Root: *hertô
- Root: *ḱerd-

## Etymology
From dis- ('reversal') + hearten, from heart + -en; heart from Old English heorte, from Proto-Germanic *hertô, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- ('heart').

## AI Etymology
Dishearten is from dis- ('reversal') + hearten, from heart + -en; heart from Old English heorte, from Proto-Germanic *hertô, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- ('heart'). The ancestry passes through Old English heorte, Proto-Germanic *hertô, and Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd-. The prefix dis- often marks separation, reversal, or negation in Latin and English formations, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as a verb, it means "to cause to lose hope, courage, or enthusiasm", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include hearten and heart; derived forms include disheartening, disheartenment, and disheartened.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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