What does dehortation mean?
Dehortation is a rare and formal English noun meaning the act of advising someone against a course of action—in short, formal dissuasion. Where an exhortation urges a listener onward, a dehortation pulls them back: it is counsel to refrain, whether delivered in a speech, a letter, or a solemn warning. The word derives from the Latin dehortari, formed from the intensive prefix de- plus hortari, 'to urge or incite,' making it a precise mirror image of exhortation. It entered English in the early modern period and survives today chiefly in scholarly, legal, or literary prose, often deployed for its elegant symmetry with its more famous sibling. Though seldom heard in everyday conversation, dehortation remains useful whenever a writer wishes to name the art of talking someone out of something with gravity and precision, lending any sentence a distinctly learned air.
nounThe act or practice of urging someone not to do something; formal dissuasion or advice against a course of action.
- The action of advising or urging someone against doing something; formal dissuasion.
"Despite the dean's earnest dehortation, the students pressed ahead with their protest."
"Her letter was a masterful piece of dehortation, laying out every reason the venture would end in ruin."
"The senator's speech amounted to a public dehortation of his colleagues' proposed alliance."
The plural is rare but follows standard English noun inflection; it typically appears when referring to multiple instances of dissuading advice.
"The archives are filled with the dehortations of anxious advisers to their ambitious patrons."
Dehortation is the forgotten twin of exhortation—same Latin root, opposite meaning—and English speakers have been neglecting it for centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dehortation
Dehortation comes from Latin dehortatio, itself from dehortari, meaning 'to urge someone away from' an action—a compound of de- and hortari, 'to encourage or incite.' It shares this root with its antonym exhortation, from exhortari, so the two words are true siblings in origin as well as opposites in sense. The word was adopted into English during the early modern period, alongside other Latinate abstract nouns of counsel and persuasion. Its rarer adjectival relatives, dehortative and dehortatory, follow the same pattern as hortative and hortatory.
Related word forms
How dehortation is actually used
Dehortation is a rare, highly formal word found mainly in older or deliberately literary writing. It is the semantic counterpart of the far more common 'exhortation,' and using it signals either historical register or playful erudition.
Easily confused with dehortation
Exhortation is an urgent appeal to do something, whereas dehortation is the opposite—an appeal not to do it.
Deportation is the forced removal of a person from a country; despite the similar spelling and rhythm, it has nothing to do with advising against an action.