What does dehort mean?
To dehort is to persuade someone not to do something — to counsel against a course of action. It is essentially the antonym of 'exhort,' which urges people onward, and it belongs to the same Latin family, deriving from 'dehortari,' formed from 'de-' (away from) plus 'hortari' (to encourage). The word entered English in the early seventeenth century and has always carried a formal, even bookish tone; it survives mainly in literary, legal-historical, or scholarly writing rather than conversation. Where modern speakers would say they 'talked someone out of' a decision or 'dissuaded' them, an earlier writer might have said they dehorted them. Its derivatives — 'dehortation' (the act of dissuading) and 'dehortative' (tending to dissuade) — are rarer still. Though largely obsolete in daily use, dehort remains a precise and elegant term for the gentle art of talking someone out of it.
verbTo dissuade or advise someone against doing something; the opposite of exhort.
- To counsel a person against a course of action; to dissuade.
"His friends dehorted him from resigning in a moment of anger."
"The board dehorted the chairman from making the announcement before the audit was complete."
"Though his colleagues dehorted him, he pressed ahead with the risky investment."
Dehort is simply 'exhort' turned on its head — same Latin root, opposite advice.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dehort
Dehort comes from Latin 'dehortari,' meaning 'to dissuade,' from 'de-' (expressing removal or reversal) plus 'hortari' (to urge or encourage), the same verb that gives us 'exhort.' The word was adopted into English in the early seventeenth century, alongside related forms such as 'dehortation.' It shares its ultimate root with 'hortatory' (giving strong encouragement) and, more distantly via hortus-related senses, with words like 'horticulture.'
Related word forms
How dehort is actually used
Dehort is rare and markedly formal or literary, appearing chiefly in older or scholarly prose. In everyday English, 'dissuade' is the natural equivalent.
Easily confused with dehort
Exhort means to urge someone strongly toward an action, while dehort means to dissuade someone from one — they are near-opposites despite sharing a root.