What does demoralize mean?
To demoralize is to strip a person, team, or group of their confidence, spirit, or hope, leaving them unable or unwilling to keep striving. A defeated army, a losing sports side, or an overworked workforce can all be described as demoralized when setbacks or harsh treatment have worn down their resolve. The verb is most at home in formal and journalistic writing about war, competition, politics, and institutional life, and it always carries a strongly negative connotation. It derives from the French démoraliser, built on moral (relating to morale or morals), and entered English around the turn of the nineteenth century. An older, now uncommon sense meant 'to undermine someone's moral principles', which is worth knowing when reading older literature. British writers typically spell the word 'demoralise', while American usage favours 'demoralize'; both are pronounced identically.
verbTo deprive a person or group of confidence, spirit, or hope, especially so that they lose the will to continue an effort or struggle.
- To sap someone's courage, confidence, or morale so that they lose heart or the will to persist.
- (Of conditions, events, or treatment) to have a corrosive effect on people's spirits or standards, weakening their resolve or sense of purpose.
"The team's crushing defeat in the final did not demoralize them; they returned stronger the following season."
"Weeks of unpaid wages had demoralized the staff, and resignations soon followed."
"Constant criticism can demoralize even the most confident student."
The French army coined 'démoraliser' as a military term for destroying an enemy's fighting spirit — and Napoleon's enemies felt its effects long before dictionaries recorded the English borrowing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of demoralize
Demoralize comes from the French verb démoraliser, formed from moral with the prefix dé-, and was originally a military term meaning to destroy an army's morale or capacity to fight. It was borrowed into English in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, first appearing in contexts connected with the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Its earliest English sense also included 'to corrupt the morals of', reflecting the older link between 'moral' in the sense of character and conduct, though that sense has largely fallen away. The word shares its root with morale, morality, and morally, all ultimately tracing back through Latin moralis ('of manners or customs') popularized by Cicero's translation of Greek ethical thought.
Related word forms
How demoralize is actually used
Formal to neutral in register; common in journalism and discussions of war, sport, politics, and workplace culture. The word always carries negative connotations. In British English it is usually spelled 'demoralise'. Note the historical sense 'to corrupt the morals of', now rare but still found in older texts.
Easily confused with demoralize
'Demoralise' is simply the British spelling of the same verb, while 'demoralize' is standard in American English — they mean exactly the same thing.