as in to dissuade
to steer (a person) from an activity or course of action
we tried to deter him from his crazy scheme, but to no avail
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Recent Examples of deter
Interestingly, other species can deter these predators by mimicking ants.
—
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2025
Seve Ballesteros’s Valderrama in 1997 was tight and tricky and at The Belfry in 2002, Sam Torrance grew the rough and narrowed the fairways at 285 yards to deter the Americans from trying to outdrive the bunkers.
—Don Riddell, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
Violence will never deter our efforts to uphold law and order.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2025
But Cozens wasn’t completely deterred by the intensity.
—Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deter
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2025
Seve Ballesteros’s Valderrama in 1997 was tight and tricky and at The Belfry in 2002, Sam Torrance grew the rough and narrowed the fairways at 285 yards to deter the Americans from trying to outdrive the bunkers.
—Don Riddell, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
Violence will never deter our efforts to uphold law and order.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2025
But Cozens wasn’t completely deterred by the intensity.
—Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deter
Verb
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The Lithuanian defense minister warned that the biggest line of defense NATO holds right now, apart from its actual military readiness, is showing a united front to dissuade Moscow from taking direct action against a NATO member and prompting what could become a global war.—
Caitlin McFall,
FOXNews.com,
21 Sep. 2025
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Both Pierre and Manigat said they will not be dissuaded by the latest turn of events.—
Ychmuth Corneille,
Miami Herald,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The purpose of natural rat repellents is to discourage them from returning, rather than trapping or killing them.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
22 Sep. 2025
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Chinese regulators are now discouraging domestic tech giants from buying Nvidia chips, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
21 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deter. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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