dishearten

/dɪsˈhɑː.tən/

//dɪsˈhɑː.tən// verb

"dishearten" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dishearten” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To discourage someone by removing their enthusiasm or courage.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dishearten · dishearten · English

dishearten · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for dishearten
PropertyValue
Headworddishearten
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/dɪsˈhɑː.tən/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dishearten” in English

disheartenfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dishearten is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /dɪsˈhɑː.tən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To discourage someone by removing their enthusiasm or courage.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for dishearten in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dis- + hearten. The correct English form is dishearten, spelled D-I-S-H-E-A-R-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To discourage someone by removing their enthusiasm or courage.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how dishearten appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The repeated failures began to dishearten the team.
  2. Do not let criticism dishearten you.

Etymology

From dis- + hearten.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dishearten"?
"dishearten" is spelled D-I-S-H-E-A-R-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪsˈhɑː.tən/.
What does "dishearten" mean?
As a verb, "dishearten" means: To discourage someone by removing their enthusiasm or courage.
How do you pronounce "dishearten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dishearten" is /dɪsˈhɑː.tən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "dishearten"?
From dis- + hearten. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list