as in discouraging
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1
as in paralyzing
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 frustrating
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 degrading
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
felt society as a whole has been demoralized by the widespread availability of pornography
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of demoralizing
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
11 June 2026
No question, the end of the season was deflating and demoralizing.
—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
The ball—true to Brown’s original design—is always humming around at high speed, finding the right man and confounding the defenses that the team’s sheer force keeps demoralizing.
—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
2 June 2026
Cleveland's season ended with a resounding, demoralizing and embarrassing 130-93 loss on Monday night in Game 4 to the New York Knicks, who swept the series and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
—
ABC News,
25 May 2026
The demoralizing loss sent the Lakers into a three-game tailspin just a couple weeks before the playoffs.
—
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2026
After the traditionally incredibly dominant US basketball team finished third at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the demoralizing loss forced the best ballers in the country to get serious and learn to work together.
—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
10 Apr. 2026
The Heat repeatedly allowed open shots and unchallenged forays to the basket in another demoralizing and disgraceful defensive display, one made all the worse by the fact the Heat is fighting for playoff seeding.
—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Nothing is more demoralizing for a team trying to regain its balance than having its outcome determined by the third inning.
—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
Vanessa Gera,
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 2026
But watching most of the progress reverse is demoralizing enough to feel like failure.
—
Ryan Brennan,
Sacbee.com,
13 June 2026
The San Antonio Spurs had just lost Game 3 of the Western Conference finals in demoralizing fashion.
—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
9 June 2026
The effort to remove Ramos, who was born in Honduras, has drawn backlash from military family advocates, who called the detention demoralizing in a time of war and warned that deporting spouses could undermine recruitment.
—
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
The effort to remove the soldier's wife, who was born in Honduras and remained in a federal immigration detention center Monday, has drawn backlash from military family advocates who called the detention demoralizing in a time of war and warned that deporting spouses could undermine recruitment.
—
Jack Brook,
ABC News,
6 Apr. 2026
Annual ritual causes anxiety Many have called the annual ritual disruptive to schools and demoralizing to the employees who receive them.
—
Edsource,
Daily News,
16 Mar. 2026
Add in fashion, an industry practically built on demoralizing vulnerable girls, and what could go wrong?
—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
Last year, approximately three hundred and fifty-two thousand civil servants left their jobs, fulfilling one of the Administration’s stated goals of dismantling the government bureaucracy and demoralizing the federal workforce.
—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
The trio also acknowledged how demoralizing and disheartening the recent spate of firings, and the lack of explanation for them, has been.
—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
11 June 2026
No question, the end of the season was deflating and demoralizing.
—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
The ball—true to Brown’s original design—is always humming around at high speed, finding the right man and confounding the defenses that the team’s sheer force keeps demoralizing.
—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
2 June 2026
Cleveland's season ended with a resounding, demoralizing and embarrassing 130-93 loss on Monday night in Game 4 to the New York Knicks, who swept the series and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
—
ABC News,
25 May 2026
The demoralizing loss sent the Lakers into a three-game tailspin just a couple weeks before the playoffs.
—
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2026
After the traditionally incredibly dominant US basketball team finished third at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the demoralizing loss forced the best ballers in the country to get serious and learn to work together.
—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
10 Apr. 2026
The Heat repeatedly allowed open shots and unchallenged forays to the basket in another demoralizing and disgraceful defensive display, one made all the worse by the fact the Heat is fighting for playoff seeding.
—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Nothing is more demoralizing for a team trying to regain its balance than having its outcome determined by the third inning.
—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
The killing is the latest act which Polish authorities believe could be part of a campaign of Russian sabotage aimed at sowing fear and demoralizing Ukraine’s closest allies.
—
Vanessa Gera,
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 2026
But watching most of the progress reverse is demoralizing enough to feel like failure.
—
Ryan Brennan,
Sacbee.com,
13 June 2026
The San Antonio Spurs had just lost Game 3 of the Western Conference finals in demoralizing fashion.
—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
9 June 2026
The effort to remove Ramos, who was born in Honduras, has drawn backlash from military family advocates, who called the detention demoralizing in a time of war and warned that deporting spouses could undermine recruitment.
—
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
The effort to remove the soldier's wife, who was born in Honduras and remained in a federal immigration detention center Monday, has drawn backlash from military family advocates who called the detention demoralizing in a time of war and warned that deporting spouses could undermine recruitment.
—
Jack Brook,
ABC News,
6 Apr. 2026
Annual ritual causes anxiety Many have called the annual ritual disruptive to schools and demoralizing to the employees who receive them.
—
Edsource,
Daily News,
16 Mar. 2026
Add in fashion, an industry practically built on demoralizing vulnerable girls, and what could go wrong?
—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
Last year, approximately three hundred and fifty-two thousand civil servants left their jobs, fulfilling one of the Administration’s stated goals of dismantling the government bureaucracy and demoralizing the federal workforce.
—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
17 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoralizing
Adjective
-
Still, this was a discouraging result for anyone wearing yellow in Kansas City.
-
The Chicago Blackhawks needed plenty after a discouraging 2024-25 season.
Verb
-
His grief was crushing, paralyzing, calamitous.
-
The tiniest decisions were paralyzing.
Verb
-
The documentary’s contradiction is right there, enthralling us with the wild achievements Potter pulled off and frustrating us with his bombast, leading us to ponder whether, as The Dark Wizard suggests, either could exist without the other.
-
Mack and the Chargers’ defense pressured quarterbacks Jalen Hurts of the Eagles and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs, frustrating them and keeping them out of their comfort zones.
Verb
-
Yet the more important revolution may be occurring much closer to the front, where inexpensive drones are removing personnel, disrupting logistics, degrading air defenses and redefining the relationship between mass, maneuver, and military power.
-
With fewer cars coming in, fewer sales are going out, further degrading its standing with corporate.
Adjective
-
Still, during a summer when the Tigers are trying to resuscitate their season after a disheartening May, process creates only so much comfort.
-
Though 2025 was a disappointing five-loss campaign that opened with a disheartening 34-7 defeat at USF and ended in similar fashion (38-10) against Washington in the LA Bowl, Spencer Danielson’s Broncos nonetheless won another Mountain West title.
Verb
-
Powell tried to open the stall door, and then began fondling himself, frightening the 11-year-old, who tried to leave, but Powell blocked him from getting out.
-
This war has been a disaster for them, frightening away foreign investors, tourists and talent and burdening them with a future of huge new defense bills to deter Iran after the United States is gone.
Verb
-
Instead of demanding personal fealty or humiliating them to assert personal dominance, Lincoln absorbed their egos and occasional slights, elevating their talents and turning his fiercest political adversaries into his most devoted champions.
-
The autocrat delights in humiliating so many people, not least tech billionaires, including Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, who once opposed him.
Adjective
-
In the finale, Matthew’s scenes with K Callan, who plays Ruth, are really disconcerting.
-
Bari Weiss directed the housecleaning at the newsmagazine last week, and Nick Bilton signed the letter telling Scott Pelley he was fired on Tuesday night, but the Paramount CEO owns the decisions and the disconcerting fallout.
Cite this Entry
“Demoralizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoralizing. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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