encourage suggests the raising of one's confidence especially by an external agency.
the teacher's praise encouraged the students to greater efforts
inspirit, somewhat literary, implies instilling life, energy, courage, or vigor into something.
patriots inspirited the people to resist
hearten implies the lifting of dispiritedness or despondency by an infusion of fresh courage or zeal.
a hospital patient heartened by good news
embolden implies the giving of courage sufficient to overcome timidity or reluctance.
emboldened by her first success, she tried an even more difficult climb
Examples of hearten in a Sentence
The team's victory has heartened its fans.
thinking we were hopelessly lost, we were heartened by the sight of a familiar farmhouse
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Its diagnosis is accurate and plans for a $12 billion dollar strategic stockpile heartening.—Markos Kounalakis, Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2026 On the flip side, some Anthropic investors say they’re heartened by the surge in goodwill the company has reaped by standing firm on its principles.—Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2026 They were heartened by attention the post received, and when the time came, about 40 people showed up.—Wheeler Cowperthwaite, The Providence Journal, 25 Feb. 2026 There’s no way to replace all that was lost in less than two weeks, but Smook has been heartened by the support.—Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hearten