What does dishearten mean?
Word: Dishearten
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Dishearten means to make someone lose hope or confidence.
Synonyms: dismay
How do you spell dishearten?
Syllables: dis - heart - en
Tricky part: The vowel sound in the middle is spelt ea, which surprises pupils who write disharten or disherten.
Watch out for: disharten, disherten, dishaerten
Memory tip: An ear sits in the middle of this word: a harsh remark that reaches your ear can leave you feeling low.
Dishearten in a sentence
Example 1: One bad match should never dishearten a good goalkeeper.
Example 2: The long queue began to dishearten even the most patient parents.
Example 3: Heavy rain did not dishearten the volunteers who were planting saplings by the lake.
Fun Fact
English often pictures courage as something that lives in the heart. You can take heart when things look up, or lose heart when they do not, and to dishearten someone is to take that courage away.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Although the steep mountain trail seemed impossible at sunrise, our experienced guide refused to let the constant drizzle disheartten the youngest members of the trekking party.
a) constant
b) disheartten
c) experienced
d) trekking
Show answer
b) disheartten. One t comes before the en.
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the prefix dis to make a real word. Choose it.
dis
a) hearten
b) cheer
c) brighten
d) sadden
Show answer
a) hearten. Adding dis to the other three gives nothing you would find in a dictionary.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word dishearten as used in the sentence:
A single low mark should not dishearten a hard-working student.
a) daunt
b) encourage
c) depress
d) discourage
Show answer
b) encourage. To encourage someone is to give them hope, which is the opposite effect.
Mingle-Mangle
The sentence contains a jumbled word. Choose the word it hides:
Two early defeats did not eradtsinhe our young hockey team.
a) disenchant
b) distinguish
c) disconnect
d) dishearten
Show answer
d) dishearten. A jumble with an h but no c or g fits only one of these.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which event would most likely dishearten a young swimmer?
a) learning a new stroke from a friendly coach
b) missing the school team by a very small margin
c) beating her own best time at the district meet
d) winning a place in the state relay squad
Show answer
b) missing the school team by a very small margin
2. The coach told the team not to feel disheartened. How had they probably been feeling?
a) curious and eager to begin
b) calm and well rested
c) proud and full of energy
d) low and ready to give up
Show answer
d) low and ready to give up
