dispirit
dispirit — verb
- dispiritpresent simple I / you / we / they
- dispirits3rd person singular
- dispiriting-ing form
- dispiritedpast simple
1. to make someone lose hope, confidence, or the will to keep trying
to make someone lose hope, confidence, or the will to keep trying
The constant rain dispirited the hikers, who had hoped for clear skies.
common in weather-related contexts
Dr. Okonkwo was deeply dispirited by the funding board's rejection of his research proposal.
passive: be dispirited by [something]
Nothing dispirits a young painter more than having their work ignored at an exhibition.
It dispirited the village elders to watch their traditional festival slowly fade away.
- discourage
broader and less formal; covers both mild and severe loss of confidence
- demoralize
stronger, often used for groups (a team, an army) whose collective spirit is broken
- dishearten
very close in meaning; dishearten focuses on losing heart/courage, dispirit on losing drive/enthusiasm
- deject
less common; emphasises sadness rather than loss of will to act
文法句型
be dispirited by [something]
[something] dispirits [someone]
it dispirits [someone] to [verb]
用法筆記
Most commonly used in the passive form (be dispirited by/at) or with the impersonal it construction. The active voice is more common with inanimate subjects (e.g. a situation, a setback). Unlike discourage, dispirit seldom takes a direct personal object with an infinitive — you would not say "She dispirited him to try again."