dispiriting 1 of 2

present participle of dispirit

dispiriting

2 of 2

adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dispiriting
Adjective
In this excerpt, adapted from Seller’s memoir, Theater Kid (out on May 6 from Simon & Schuster), the producer lays out the musical’s long road from dispiriting workshop to its simultaneously triumphant and tragic first preview performance. Jeffrey Seller, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025 One particularly dispiriting departure is that of Peter Marks, the longtime leader of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2025 One of the very depressing and dispiriting aspects of this is that Congress is not standing up for its prerogatives. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2025 The outcome ended what had been a dispiriting history for Maryland (25-7). Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 15 Mar. 2025 If blowout losses and dispiriting performances characterized the 2023-24 Sharks season, the team’s 2024-25 season has been pockmarked by heartbreak, with an almost uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025 The lengthy injury report is really dispiriting, with Dallas also down Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and midseason acquisition Caleb Martin. Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 23 Feb. 2025 Who better, then, to pry Eve loose than a rangy, rakish music journalist (Benjamin Bratt) whose game includes unironic hat-wearing and — like a dispiriting number of men in his age bracket — the unembarrassed deployment of Stephen Stills lyrics? Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025 The Vols look to avenge last month’s dispiriting loss in Knoxville; the Wildcats can earn a statement sweep of a respected team. Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 11 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dispiriting
Verb
  • Good air circulation will allow leaves and stems to dry out, discouraging disease.
    Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 12 Apr. 2025
  • Actions by officials in the two countries are also discouraging Canadian tourists from looking south.
    Skyler Swisher, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Data site Census Reporter whispers a hopeful, yet slightly dismaying, truth: over half of Austinites are unattached.
    Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
  • And developers who take on the spatial complexities of working with old architecture face a dismaying array of bureaucratic and financial challenges.
    Justin Davidson, Curbed, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • If getting this set up on your own sounds daunting, don’t be afraid to ask for help, McCoy says.
    Ryan Ermey, CNBC, 23 July 2025
  • While starting a business can seem like a daunting task, there is a process for doing so.
    Rhett Buttle, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
Adjective
  • While Mamdani may have intended to express respect to a religious community, his comments signal troubling deference to powerful interests that have long resisted even the most basic educational standards in Hasidic yeshivas.
    Adina Mermelstein Konikoff, New York Daily News, 22 July 2025
  • In a post shared on Facebook by Caribbean Guard, a volunteer lifeguard organization in Costa Rica, the group described attempts made to save the 54-year-old from the troubling waters.
    DeMicia Inman, VIBE.com, 22 July 2025
Adjective
  • Many troublesome issues that weaken psychological safety stem from character imbalances.
    Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025
  • In the wake of making the troublesome latter album, Osbourne bolted the group in 1977 and embarked on a solo project, Blizzard of Ozz, and was replaced by singer Dave Walker of Savoy Brown.
    Chris Morris, Variety, 22 July 2025
Adjective
  • It’s had a number of harrowing trailers and is now releasing full clips that the internet is finding deeply unsettling.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025
  • Tell me what were some of the other possibilities that were floated to deal with this unsettling initial singularity?
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 24 July 2025
Adjective
  • The board of the Regional Transportation Authority met Friday to discuss ways to respond to the cut, striking a note of optimism to counter the disturbing prediction for Tri-Rail’s future.
    Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, 25 July 2025
  • This is a disturbing statistic and speaks to an increase in the total number of people defacing themselves, but also a rise in the amount of ink per person.
    Scott Liftman, Boston Herald, 25 July 2025
Adjective
  • Mold is far more common and worrisome than many people realize.
    Daryl Austin, USA Today, 24 July 2025
  • There still are some worrisome offensive markers, however.
    Tony Blengino, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dispiriting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dispiriting. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.

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