Synonyms of dispiriting

dispiriting 1 of 2

adjective

as in disheartening

Related Words

• disheartening
• discouraging
• dismaying
• demoralizing
• disconcerting
• daunting
• troubling
• troublesome
• unsettling
• distressing
• disturbing
• discomfiting
• disquieting
• worrisome
• upsetting
• perturbing
• frightening
• troublous
• nagging
• discomforting
• chilling
• scary
• alarming
• discomposing
• terrifying
• nasty
• terrible
• horrifying
• ghastly
• dreadful
• shocking
• horrible
• formidable
• persecutory
• dire
• frightful
• horrendous
• dread
• fearful
• forbidding
• fearsome
• harassing
• direful
• persecutive
• intimidating
• hair-raising

Dissimilar Words

• reassuring
• settling
• soothing
• calming
• comforting
• narcotic
• relaxing
• dreamy
• inviting
• sedative
• quieting
• tranquilizing
• consoling
• lulling
• pacifying

dispiriting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of dispirit

as in discouraging

to lessen the courage or confidence of

dispirited by the overwhelming amount of information needed to write the report

Synonyms & Similar Words

• discouraging
• frustrating
• disheartening
• daunting
• unnerving
• demoralizing
• frightening
• dismaying
• intimidating
• horrifying
• troubling
• chilling
• distressing
• worrying
• afflicting
• unmanning
• scaring
• bothering
• depressing
• throwing cold water on
• bullying
• saddening
• weighing
• trying
• debilitating
• browbeating
• undermining
• deadening
• cowing
• weakening
• vexing
• dampening
• enfeebling
• irking
• damping

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• encouraging
• cheering
• invigorating
• heartening
• enlivening
• reinforcing
• enforcing
• nerving
• exciting
• emboldening
• animating
• strengthening
• reassuring
• steeling
• assuring
• gladdening
• stimulating
• fortifying
• stirring
• inspiring
• energizing
• buoying (up)
• provoking
• galvanizing
• lifting
• rallying
• quickening
• boosting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dispiriting

Adjective

Turkey won’t be advancing to the next round after two dispiriting losses. — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 25 June 2026

Uddin said there are challenges to operating a food pantry at a high volume, but none more dispiriting than having to say no. — Zareen Syed, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026

And so that’s the dispiriting, disquieting aspect of the story. — Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 9 Apr. 2026

Then there’s the somewhat dispiriting fact that stadium-level rock bands are dwindling for younger generations, so much so that these offers to push out older acts are almost done by necessity. — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025

Some might take issue that actual recordings get used, but given the message this expertly made film so emphatically presents, that haunting voice makes the film all that more powerful, meaningful and dispiriting. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 8 Jan. 2026

In Week 16, Detroit had a first and goal from the 1-yard line in the final seconds against the Pittsburgh Steelers but failed to score the go-ahead touchdown in a dispiriting loss. — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 26 Dec. 2025

The exits of the two men, who both identify as gay, will also mark a dispiriting step backward for LGBTQ+ representation in the C‑suite. — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 20 June 2026

That opened the door for Ramon Laureano to deliver the knockout blow in the form of an RBI single to left, ultimately handing the Red Sox a dispiriting 3-2 loss. — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2026

Verb

All three are mired in different, dispiriting versions of mid-life crises, and get involved in a kinky kinda sorta love triangle. — Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 24 Mar. 2026

After a honeymoon research period, Schlamminger at times found the work dispiriting. — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 7 May 2026

After a long international flight, the lines at passport control and immigration can be dispiriting. — Michael Cappetta, Travel + Leisure, 13 June 2026

Bay Hill may feel like unfinished business for Morikawa after a dispiriting runner-up finish in 2025. — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026

That dispiriting news, coupled with consumer sentiment plunging to the lowest point ever recorded, should be enough to set off alarm bells and trigger talk of the economy flirting with recession. — Greg Petro, Forbes.com, 19 May 2026

And, as the season wound to a dispiriting close, there was literal infighting in the dressing room between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni. — Guillermo Rai, New York Times, 27 May 2026

Tess, meanwhile, suggests a more vulnerable reality behind that brittle exterior—a faith that talent and perseverance can pay off, a desire for agency amid dispiriting circumstances. — Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 15 June 2026

And yet for God’s sake, just look at the man—at his dispiriting attempts at humor, his weirdly off-putting outfits, his incessant posting of banalities and faux profundities and extreme-right disinformation on social media. — Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026