dishearten

/dɪsˈhɑːtn/ (bre, ipa) · /dɪsˈhɑːrtn/ (ame, ipa) · /(ˌ)dis-ˈhär-tᵊn/ (ame, mw)

dishearten — verb

  • disheartenpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • disheartenshe / she / it
  • disheartenedpast simple
  • disheartening-ing form

1. to cause someone to feel sad and to give up belief that their effort will succee

1.動詞及物C1
釋義

to cause someone to feel sad and to give up belief that their effort will succeed

例句

The repeated rejection letters from publishers began to dishearten Talia after two years of writing.

dishearten + person object after a string of setbacks

Coach Bao tried not to dishearten the swimmers after the team lost the regional final.

try not to + dishearten — softening the impact of bad news

同義詞
  • discourage

    more everyday; suggests reducing motivation as well as hope

  • demoralize

    stronger; implies loss of morale across a group

  • dispirit

    formal and literary; emphasises loss of inner energy

反義詞
  • encourage

    to give someone the confidence to keep trying

  • hearten

    the direct opposite; less common in modern speech

文法句型

dishearten + person

be disheartened by + situation

用法筆記

Frequently passive (be/feel disheartened by something). Subject is usually a setback, piece of bad news, or repeated failure rather than a person acting deliberately.

常見錯誤

❌The teacher disheartened the student about her low score.
✅The teacher's comments disheartened the student.
💡the cause is the news or event, not someone speaking directly.
❌I am disheartening today.
✅I am disheartened today.
💡describe the person's feeling with the past participle, not the -ing form.