as in degraded
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
a demoralized nation that had forgotten the values that once made it great
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in paralyzed
to deprive of courage or confidence
the mere sight of the forbidding cliffs demoralized the climbers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in discouraged
to lessen the courage or confidence of
we refused to be demoralized by our humiliating defeat and vowed to come roaring back the following week
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in humiliated
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
felt society as a whole has been demoralized by the widespread availability of pornography
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 demoralized
Christopher Magra, The Conversation, 10 Feb. 2026
The Democratic Party has funneled all the fury of its demoralized and humiliated voter base into a focal point centered on immigration policy.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 21 Jan. 2026
Iraqi units were so demoralized and disorganized that, in one now-famous incident, a group of soldiers surrendered to an unmanned Pioneer drone.
—David A. Deptula, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
There’s sort of a demoralized aura around the program these days.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026
But a new study has found that such workplace jargon may be doing more harm than good—making employees feel confused, demoralized and less likely to collaborate with their coworkers.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
The octogenarian trying to reach a new generation of voters amid a demoralized Democratic Party is a stark juxtaposition.
—Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 27 May 2026
What Russians feel Despite Putin’s resilience and his benefitting from the war in Iran, public sentiment within Russia is increasingly demoralized.
—Anna Nemtsova, Time, 23 May 2026
Now, after that latest detention, Garcia Venegas sounds demoralized.
—Nicole Foy, ProPublica, 15 May 2026
Today everyday Texans are feeling stressed about the economy, demoralized by an administration that is trampling on our constitution, and fearful that our government is broken beyond repair.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2026
The board has come under fire from the Oakland Police Officers Association and pro-police activists who assert that the commission has hampered officers’ ability to fight crime and demoralized the department resulting in understaffing.
—Richard Halstead, Mercury News, 9 May 2026
After the Knicks had already demoralized the Sixers three times too many, there was still time on the clock for one more haymaker, one more seismic punch to put Philadelphia, already on the ropes far sooner than its fan base had anticipated, out for good.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 5 May 2026
But in qualifying, that’s another matter, and watching the cars lifting and coasting through the 130R corner at Suzuka in Japan was something that demoralized virtually every race fan this author knows.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 10 Apr. 2026
Though my teammates were dehydrated and slightly red in the summer heat, they were not demoralized.
—Gaby Del Valle, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
Despite being outnumbered and outmaneuvered, Washington maintained order among his demoralized troops.
—Christopher Magra, The Conversation, 10 Feb. 2026
The Democratic Party has funneled all the fury of its demoralized and humiliated voter base into a focal point centered on immigration policy.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 21 Jan. 2026
Iraqi units were so demoralized and disorganized that, in one now-famous incident, a group of soldiers surrendered to an unmanned Pioneer drone.
—David A. Deptula, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
There’s sort of a demoralized aura around the program these days.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026
But a new study has found that such workplace jargon may be doing more harm than good—making employees feel confused, demoralized and less likely to collaborate with their coworkers.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
The octogenarian trying to reach a new generation of voters amid a demoralized Democratic Party is a stark juxtaposition.
—Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Verb
Colorado looked nothing like the team that demoralized opponents all year with its offensive and defensive prowess.
—Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 27 May 2026
What Russians feel Despite Putin’s resilience and his benefitting from the war in Iran, public sentiment within Russia is increasingly demoralized.
—Anna Nemtsova, Time, 23 May 2026
Now, after that latest detention, Garcia Venegas sounds demoralized.
—Nicole Foy, ProPublica, 15 May 2026
Today everyday Texans are feeling stressed about the economy, demoralized by an administration that is trampling on our constitution, and fearful that our government is broken beyond repair.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2026
The board has come under fire from the Oakland Police Officers Association and pro-police activists who assert that the commission has hampered officers’ ability to fight crime and demoralized the department resulting in understaffing.
—Richard Halstead, Mercury News, 9 May 2026
After the Knicks had already demoralized the Sixers three times too many, there was still time on the clock for one more haymaker, one more seismic punch to put Philadelphia, already on the ropes far sooner than its fan base had anticipated, out for good.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 5 May 2026
But in qualifying, that’s another matter, and watching the cars lifting and coasting through the 130R corner at Suzuka in Japan was something that demoralized virtually every race fan this author knows.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 10 Apr. 2026
Though my teammates were dehydrated and slightly red in the summer heat, they were not demoralized.
—Gaby Del Valle, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoralized
Adjective
-
Even when degraded, enzymes have stable backbones that might be capable of catalyzing reactions, said Sudha Rajamani, an astrobiologist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune who wasn’t involved in the study.—
Siddhant Pusdekar,
Quanta Magazine,
1 June 2026
-
According to the company, QTT enables highly secure and resilient position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services, helping maintain accurate timing and synchronization even when traditional GPS and radio-frequency signals are unavailable, degraded, or intentionally jammed.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
Based on the author’s experiences with anxiety from his teen years to being struck with Guillain-Barre syndrome as an adult, which paralyzed him for six months.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
31 May 2026
-
The boy was unconscious for several minutes and temporarily paralyzed, according to the lawsuit.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
At first it was allowed, then discouraged, then more firmly refused.—
Vogue,
Vogue,
1 June 2026
-
Its journal was essentially an academic publication, and images were discouraged.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
In the ongoing fight for women’s equal rights, Pawol had proved a female baseball umpire can be second-guessed, proved wrong and humiliated by technology and mocked by howling fans on social media just like a man can.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2026
-
Villanova humiliated UConn, winning 81-61, after building out a 31-point lead.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
26 May 2026
Adjective
-
Democrats have never run against a candidate like Ken Paxton that is so corrupt that his own party impeached him.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
31 May 2026
-
Our lame-duck governor is happily corrupt and no longer answerable to Floridians.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
The Lord in your convent frightened me, Jesus with his bloody palms and gaping mouth, eyes rolled back in terror.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 May 2026
-
Lee Cronin was both flattered and frightened when Jason Blum suggested titling his The Mummy reimagining as Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
While many fans have questioned the sincerity of the effort that A’s owner John Fisher and MLB made to keep the A’s in Oakland, MLB officials also grew frustrated by the process.—
Evan Drellich,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
-
As Marcus spent more time mentoring his leading employees, their temperament shifted from frustrated to inspired, stirring more change in the workforce than Marcus ever could have achieved alone.—
Janine Schindler,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
Remsing, meanwhile, said that commodity-sensitive currencies like the Norwegian krone, Australian dollar and Brazilian real have also trended strongly as the de-dollarization theme petered out and the euro was weakened by the war.—
Hugh Leask,
CNBC,
5 June 2026
-
That's because some jurisdictions weakened their public health authorities in response to criticism of lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other COVID-era restrictions.—
Rob Stein,
NPR,
4 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Demoralized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoralized. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
