as in discouraging
to lessen the courage or confidence of
dispirited by the overwhelming amount of information needed to write the report
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in disheartening
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Recent Examples of dispiriting
Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025
Let’s establish all of that up front after the Carolina Panthers’ dispiriting, 20-3 exhibition loss at Houston Saturday.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 17 Aug. 2025
Whether driven by social apathy or artistic passion, James—effortlessly played by O’Connor with hangdog elegance—registers as a compelling update of the ’70s American male loner archetype for another dispiriting, directionless time.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025
Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Similar condos are now being built from the Upper West Side (handsome) to Greenpoint (dispiriting).
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2025
In this excerpt, adapted from Seller’s memoir, Theater Kid (out on May 6 from Simon & Schuster), the producer lays out the musical’s long road from dispiriting workshop to its simultaneously triumphant and tragic first preview performance.
—Jeffrey Seller, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025
One particularly dispiriting departure is that of Peter Marks, the longtime leader of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2025
One of the very depressing and dispiriting aspects of this is that Congress is not standing up for its prerogatives.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2025
The outcome ended what had been a dispiriting history for Maryland (25-7).
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 15 Mar. 2025
If blowout losses and dispiriting performances characterized the 2023-24 Sharks season, the team’s 2024-25 season has been pockmarked by heartbreak, with an almost uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
The lengthy injury report is really dispiriting, with Dallas also down Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and midseason acquisition Caleb Martin.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 23 Feb. 2025
Verb
Some folks harbor a dispiriting conviction that governments are unable to handle the simplest task.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025
Let’s establish all of that up front after the Carolina Panthers’ dispiriting, 20-3 exhibition loss at Houston Saturday.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 17 Aug. 2025
Whether driven by social apathy or artistic passion, James—effortlessly played by O’Connor with hangdog elegance—registers as a compelling update of the ’70s American male loner archetype for another dispiriting, directionless time.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The endgame here of every state except maybe a few purple ones having representatives from only one party is really dispiriting — this clearly is not what the Congressional system was set up to be.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Similar condos are now being built from the Upper West Side (handsome) to Greenpoint (dispiriting).
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2025
In this excerpt, adapted from Seller’s memoir, Theater Kid (out on May 6 from Simon & Schuster), the producer lays out the musical’s long road from dispiriting workshop to its simultaneously triumphant and tragic first preview performance.
—Jeffrey Seller, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025
One particularly dispiriting departure is that of Peter Marks, the longtime leader of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2025
One of the very depressing and dispiriting aspects of this is that Congress is not standing up for its prerogatives.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2025
The outcome ended what had been a dispiriting history for Maryland (25-7).
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 15 Mar. 2025
If blowout losses and dispiriting performances characterized the 2023-24 Sharks season, the team’s 2024-25 season has been pockmarked by heartbreak, with an almost uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
The lengthy injury report is really dispiriting, with Dallas also down Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and midseason acquisition Caleb Martin.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 23 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dispiriting
Verb
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Those concerns were not discouraging people online and around me from embracing the reformer machine.—
Leah Asmelash,
CNN Money,
7 Sep. 2025
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This would include more stoutly discouraging the delusion and possibly being completely upfront and clamping down on it.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But the drum sound wasn’t nearly as dismaying as the studio’s piano, which kept slipping out of tune.—
Peter Ames Carlin,
Rolling Stone,
13 Aug. 2025
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With a six-game deficit in the American League wild card hunt entering play on Monday, the Angels may be only a few series away from repeating their dismaying playbook from 2023.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
But for a teenager itching to see more of Britain—and eventually the world—that lack of curiosity was disheartening.—
Rohan Banerjee,
Time,
23 Aug. 2025
-
So, the idea of the teen driver owing an additional $4,200 on the SUV after paying fees and putting money down ($1,500-$2,000) is disheartening to say the least.—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
11 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Watching what’s unfolding around us can be demoralizing.—
Stacey Abrams,
Time,
28 Aug. 2025
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Those are the kinds of demoralizing stats that break Hern’s heart.—
Michael Ashley,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
For some—for me—the experience of certain kinds of anxiety has a disconcerting synesthetic quality.—
Scott Stossel,
The Atlantic,
9 Sep. 2025
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The disconcerting answer is that nobody knows.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Biden's library team has the daunting task of raising money for the 46th president's legacy project at a moment when his party has become fragmented about the way ahead and many big Democratic donors have stopped writing checks.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 Sep. 2025
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Pynchon’s daunting masterpiece, a white whale of a Great American Novel, is stuffed with pun-tastic songs, rocket science and World War II-era occultism.—
John Lopez,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In Wind River, the investigation into Natalie's death is hindered by a troubling legal gap.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Sep. 2025
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In addition—and even more troubling—there remains a question of what this means for the work environment at the DOJ.—
Andrew Binns,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Darrisaw will be McCarthy's primary blindside blocker, so his missing the game would have been troublesome for the second-year passer.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Sep. 2025
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Let’s aim to stick with the straightforward nomenclature of AI psychosis as the proper phrasing and not meander into a plethora of troublesome variations.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dispiriting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dispiriting. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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