Basic Details
Word: Dejected
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Sad and low in spirits, especially after a failure or a disappointment.
Synonyms: downcast, disheartened, gloomy, unhappy
Antonyms: cheerful, elated, happy
How to Spell Dejected
Syllables: de - ject - ed
Tricky part: It begins with de, not di, and the middle sound is written with j, never g: dejected.
Watch out for: dijected, degected, dejectted
Memory tip: The same ject sits in reject: a player rejected by the selectors walks home dejected.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Ravi looked dejected when his new kite was cut within minutes on Sankranti morning.
Example 2: The dejected farmer stared at his flattened wheat after the hailstorm.
Example 3: She felt dejected for a day but then signed up for the next contest.
Fun Fact
Dejected comes from the Latin dejectus, thrown down, from de (down) and jacere (to throw), so a dejected person is, in a picture, thrown down in spirit.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to dejected as used in the sentence:
The dejected players sat in silence in the dressing room after losing the final by a single run.
a) downcast
b) gloomy
c) tired
d) elated
Show answer
d) elated. Elated describes the winners' mood, not that of the silent losers; downcast and gloomy mean nearly the same as dejected.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Her face looked so dcjeetde when the results were pinned up that her friends went over to comfort her.
a) detected
b) deflected
c) dejected
d) rejected
Show answer
c) dejected. There is a j and no r in the jumble, so it cannot be rejected, and detected and deflected lack the j.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
de_e_ted
a) g, k
b) g, c
c) j, k
d) j, c
Show answer
d) j, c. The word needs j in the first blank and c in the second: de-ject-ed.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which event would most likely leave a student dejected?
a) getting a new bicycle for Diwali
b) hearing that a holiday is coming
c) winning the inter-school quiz
d) failing a test after weeks of study
Show answer
d) failing a test after weeks of study
2. Which word in this sentence could be replaced by dejected? "Anu felt miserable after her bicycle was stolen."
a) felt
b) miserable
c) stolen
d) bicycle
Show answer
b) miserable
