demoralize
verb
[ dɪˈmɒrəlʌɪz ]
• cause (someone) to lose confidence or hope.
• "the General Strike had demoralized the trade unions"
Similar:
dishearten,
dispirit,
deject,
cast down,
depress,
dismay,
daunt,
discourage,
unman,
unnerve,
crush,
sap,
shake,
throw,
cow,
subdue,
undermine,
devitalize,
weaken,
enfeeble,
enervate,
break someone's spirit,
bring someone low,
knock the stuffing out of,
knock for six,
knock sideways,
dispirited,
disheartened,
downhearted,
dejected,
downcast,
low,
depressed,
despairing,
disconsolate,
crestfallen,
disappointed,
dismayed,
daunted,
discouraged,
unmanned,
unnerved,
crushed,
humbled,
cowed,
subdued,
sapped,
drained,
shaken,
thrown,
undermined,
devitalized,
fed up,
brassed off,
cheesed off,
pissed off,
• corrupt the morals of (someone).
• "she hastened her daughter's steps, lest she be demoralized by beholding the free manners of these ‘mad English’"
Origin:
late 18th century: from French démoraliser (a word of the French Revolution), from dé- (expressing reversal) + moral ‘moral’, from Latin moralis .
