demoralizes

verb

present tense third-person singular of demoralize
1
as in paralyzes
to deprive of courage or confidence the mere sight of the forbidding cliffs demoralized the climbers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in discourages
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 degrades
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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoralizes
  1. paralyzes
  2. discourages
  3. degrades
  4. frightens
  5. frustrates
  6. humiliates
  7. terrifies
  8. corrupts
Verb
  • Fear, like ignorance, shuts our eyes to and paralyzes our trust in God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and unfailing love for His children, whereas the understanding of God’s ever-present goodness removes the fear that generates suffering.
    — André Kisonga, Christian Science Monitor, 30 June 2026
  • These opportunists drown out the core mission, creating a cacophony of competing voices that confuses donors, crowd the inboxes of CEOs and members of Congress with colliding petitions, and paralyzes meaningful action by draining critical funding and attention away from the truly effective groups.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 28 June 2026
Definition of paralyzes
Verb
  • Silver discourages mildew, mold and bacterial growth through a natural chemical process.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • This discourages foraging wasps and yellowjackets from being attracted to these areas, says Gordon.
    — Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 29 July 2026
Definition of discourages
Verb
  • These are exactly the kinds of workflows where human attention degrades over time and for which automation and AI are ideally suited.
    — Tal Lev-Ami, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • But because niobium diselenide degrades rapidly in air, scientists have not been able to reliably fabricate devices at the wafer scale.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of degrades
Verb
  • The thing that frightens me isn’t that machines will replace people.
    — Maria Colacurcio, Fortune, 28 June 2026
  • What frightens scientists more than the sheer numbers are that the cuts are arbitrary and manifestly pernicious.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Definition of frightens
Verb
  • What frustrates him more is the way Americans talk about those caught in it.
    — Victor Dey, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • That distinction — chosen versus imposed — is what separates a line that builds anticipation from one that simply frustrates.
    — Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 31 July 2026
Definition of frustrates
Verb
  • Filming a scene in which Isaiah humiliates Cam, Withers asked Wayans to crack jokes about Kionte’s death — the defining event of Withers’ life, and his lowest point.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Diomande just humiliates fullbacks.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 12 June 2026
Definition of humiliates
Verb
  • What terrifies you about this moment and inspires you about this moment?
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026
  • That prospect terrifies Hamid, the relief worker who survived the drone strike.
    — Mat Nashed, Christian Science Monitor, 21 July 2026
Definition of terrifies
Verb
  • Forgetting his bond with the land, Mariano awakens the Ch’iqmi, a dark force that corrupts his people.
    — Kevin Giraud, Variety, 25 June 2026
  • One nanny will try to get to the bottom of it before all the partying, power and privilege corrupts her.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 21 Apr. 2026
Definition of corrupts
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.

Browse Nearby Words

demoralized
demoralizes
demoralizing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Demoralizes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoralizes. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on demoralizes

Nglish: Translation of demoralizes for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All