as in degraded
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
a demoralized nation that had forgotten the values that once made it great
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in paralyzed
to deprive of courage or confidence
the mere sight of the forbidding cliffs demoralized the climbers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in discouraged
to lessen the courage or confidence of
we refused to be demoralized by our humiliating defeat and vowed to come roaring back the following week
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in humiliated
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
felt society as a whole has been demoralized by the widespread availability of pornography
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of demoralized
Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
The octogenarian trying to reach a new generation of voters amid a demoralized Democratic Party is a stark juxtaposition.
—Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Tom Bartlett, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2025
According to a friend who works at Social Security, top leaders have quit, staff is demoralized and many are concerned about DOGE personnel accessing our personal data, violating security protocols and pushing a complete and rapid overhaul of the entire computer systems.
—Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2025
If team owners could influence scorekeeping, fans would lose interest, players would be demoralized and sponsors would back away as public trust collapses.
—Brent Dykes, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
The Democrats are shell-shocked and demoralized.
—Llewellyn King, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Mar. 2025
The months-long soap opera captivated the NBA world and demoralized Magic fans.
—Josh Robbins, The Athletic, 7 Mar. 2025
Hernandez and two other former staffers who attended that meeting testified that they were shocked and demoralized by Platt’s attitude.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2025
Some antiracists have been pretty demoralized by recent events.
—John Blake, CNN, 1 Mar. 2025
The specter of coming staff reductions and a fundamental reorientation of the agency’s functions have left hundreds of the department’s more than 4,200 workers demoralized and sounding the alarm about the effect on educators.
—Zach Montague, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Adjective
But a new study has found that such workplace jargon may be doing more harm than good—making employees feel confused, demoralized and less likely to collaborate with their coworkers.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
The octogenarian trying to reach a new generation of voters amid a demoralized Democratic Party is a stark juxtaposition.
—Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Verb
The departures leave a leadership void that, according to current and former CDC officials, has demoralized the agency’s staff and will further undermine its ability to provide reliable guidance to Americans.
—Tom Bartlett, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2025
According to a friend who works at Social Security, top leaders have quit, staff is demoralized and many are concerned about DOGE personnel accessing our personal data, violating security protocols and pushing a complete and rapid overhaul of the entire computer systems.
—Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2025
If team owners could influence scorekeeping, fans would lose interest, players would be demoralized and sponsors would back away as public trust collapses.
—Brent Dykes, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
The Democrats are shell-shocked and demoralized.
—Llewellyn King, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Mar. 2025
The months-long soap opera captivated the NBA world and demoralized Magic fans.
—Josh Robbins, The Athletic, 7 Mar. 2025
Hernandez and two other former staffers who attended that meeting testified that they were shocked and demoralized by Platt’s attitude.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2025
Some antiracists have been pretty demoralized by recent events.
—John Blake, CNN, 1 Mar. 2025
The specter of coming staff reductions and a fundamental reorientation of the agency’s functions have left hundreds of the department’s more than 4,200 workers demoralized and sounding the alarm about the effect on educators.
—Zach Montague, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoralized
Adjective
-
Developed by Toyota, the Sweep Energy Storage System rapidly switches each battery’s power flow on and off in mere microseconds, even when new batteries are connected to degraded or different capacity batteries.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Aug. 2025
-
Yet, as Beech pointed out, a lot of the material goods actually from the ‘70s are of a lower quality than earlier decades and also more degraded than the period relics of the ‘80s and ‘90s.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Before recess, the lower chamber was paralyzed over a standoff regarding the Epstein files, when the House Rules Committee failed to tee up any bills for floor votes as the members disagreed over the Epstein files issue.—
Lauren Peller,
ABC News,
2 Sep. 2025
-
The climate groups had sued the EPA, Zeldin, and Citibank—which was holding the grant money on behalf of the agency—saying the freeze had paralyzed their operations.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
That’s largely because, in recent centuries, waves of colonizers globally discouraged or even outlawed the teaching and learning of Indigenous languages — eradication that researchers and technologists like Boyer, as well as organizations like UNESCO, are now working to undo.—
Clare Duffy,
CNN Money,
2 Sep. 2025
-
In May 2025, Penna opened a facility in Bell, California exclusively for Legendary—a choice many in his life discouraged due to the cost of maintaining a plant in the Golden State.—
Simone Melvin,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Inter Miami, clearly humiliated, let out its frustrations after the final whistle, when several Miami players, led by Luis Suarez, got into a scuffle with Seattle players.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
1 Sep. 2025
-
Having been humiliated at a college party, proceeds to use his tech skills to hack into the accounts of his peers and get revenge.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The story of corrupt small-town cops taking on a former Marine was written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier and stars Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson and AnnaSophia Robb.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Delegates and party leaders described it as a corrupt and hypocritical maneuver from the governor.—
Nicole Nixon,
Sacbee.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Family pets, especially dogs, are frightened by the noise and will hide or try to run away.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 Aug. 2025
-
In the first Nobody, Odenkirk’s Hutch has to reignite the sleeping assassin within himself after his family was frightened by a botched home invasion.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
During his loan spell with Leeds, Spence frustrated their head coach Daniel Farke with his timekeeping.—
Jay Harris,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Some actors might choose to step away from such a thing, or even be frustrated by it or it being brought up in interviews, but Fischer clearly enjoys every last moment of her good fortune from a former era, even now.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The problem is that what gets cut isn’t always cosmetic, and sometimes the very safeguards designed to block harmful outputs, such as hate speech or criminal instructions, are weakened or lost.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Meanwhile, the latest jobs report confirmed that the labor market weakened sharply over the spring and summer and that sectors most affected by tariffs have seen the biggest losses.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Demoralized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoralized. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share