dispiriting

/dɪˈspɪɹɪtɪŋ/

//dɪˈspɪɹɪtɪŋ// adj

"dispiriting" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dispiriting” is uncommon English (frequency #94,780 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#94,780
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lowering the morale of; making despondent or depressive; disheartening.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dispiriting · dispiriting · English

dispiriting · rank #94,780 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #94,780
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH disputable

Nearest frequency peer: disputable (+1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “dispiriting”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “dispiriting” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dispiriting
PropertyValue
Headworddispiriting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/dɪˈspɪɹɪtɪŋ/
Letters11
Frequency rank#94,780
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dispiriting” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).dispiritingfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “disputable” (#94,781), “Disha” (#94,778), “discours” (#94,777). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dispiriting” is #94,780. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dispiriting is uncommon English at frequency #94,780 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /dɪˈspɪɹɪtɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Lowering the morale of; making despondent or depressive; disheartening.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for dispiriting, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is dispiriting, spelled D-I-S-P-I-R-I-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lowering the morale of; making despondent or depressive; disheartening.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Luckily, though, the sumptuous, eerie look and mood of the movie make it possible to ignore this dispiriting and superfluous adherence to convention.
  2. Kane's late leveller will make a big difference to England's morale before two home games against Italy and Hungary, as a second successive loss would have been dispiriting for a side suffering a physical and mental toll after such a long season.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dispiriting"?
"dispiriting" is spelled D-I-S-P-I-R-I-T-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪˈspɪɹɪtɪŋ/.
What does "dispiriting" mean?
As an adjective, "dispiriting" means: Lowering the morale of; making despondent or depressive; disheartening.
How do you pronounce "dispiriting"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dispiriting" is /dɪˈspɪɹɪtɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dispiriting" come from?
"dispiriting" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dispiriting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list