What does disheartened mean?
Disheartened is an adjective describing someone who has lost hope, confidence, or enthusiasm, usually as the result of setbacks, disappointments, or prolonged effort without reward. A job seeker facing repeated rejections, a student discouraged by poor results, or a team defeated after a hard-fought match might all be described as disheartened. The word derives from 'dishearten', which literally means to deprive of heart — 'heart' having long stood for courage and spirit in English — so calling someone disheartened evokes the image of courage draining away. It sits between milder terms like 'disappointed' and stronger ones like 'despondent' or 'despairing': it signals genuine emotional deflation while implying the person may yet recover. Common collocations include 'feel disheartened' and 'grew disheartened'. Its opposite is 'heartened' or 'encouraged', making the word part of a vivid family of expressions that treat morale as something one can give, take, or lose.
Having lost determination, confidence, or hope; demoralized.
"Disheartened by the constant criticism, the young writer almost abandoned her manuscript."
Often followed by 'by' or 'at' to introduce the cause: 'disheartened by the results', 'disheartened at the news'.
Past tense and past participle of 'dishearten': to cause someone to lose hope or confidence.
"The repeated delays disheartened even the most committed volunteers."
As a verb form it takes an object: something disheartens someone.
'Disheartened' literally means your 'heart' has been taken away — the word treats courage as something you can physically lose.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of disheartened
Disheartened comes from the verb 'dishearten', formed in English by adding the negative prefix 'dis-' to 'hearten', meaning to encourage or give heart. The root is 'heart', from Old English 'heorte', long used figuratively for courage, spirit, and resolution. The verb arose in English around the late 16th to early 17th century, and the adjective is its past participle used predicatively and attributively. Related words sharing this root include 'hearty', 'wholehearted', and 'hearten' itself.
Related word forms
How disheartened is actually used
Standard in both formal and informal registers. It typically describes a temporary emotional state resulting from disappointment or repeated failure, rather than a chronic condition; it is stronger than 'disappointed' but milder than 'despairing'.
Easily confused with disheartened
The two are near-synonyms, but 'disheartened' suggests a deeper loss of spirit or hope, while 'discouraged' often implies being deterred from a specific course of action.