Dictionary
hearten
verb heart·en \ˈhär-tən\
: to cause (someone) to feel more cheerful or hopeful
heart·enedheart·en·ing \ˈhärt-niŋ, ˈhär-tən-iŋ\
Full Definition of HEARTEN
transitive verb
See hearten defined for English-language learners
See hearten defined for kids
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First Known Use of HEARTEN
1526
Related to HEARTEN
- Synonyms
- bear up, buck up, buoy (up), cheer (up), chirk (up), embolden, encourage, inspire, inspirit, steel
- Antonyms
- daunt, discourage, dishearten, dispirit
Synonym Discussion of HEARTEN
encourage, inspirit, hearten, embolden mean to fill with courage or strength of purpose. encourage suggests the raising of one's confidence especially by an external agency <the teacher's praise encouraged the students to greater efforts>. inspirit, somewhat literary, implies instilling life, energy, courage, or vigor into something <patriots inspirited the people to resist>. hearten implies the lifting of dispiritedness or despondency by an infusion of fresh courage or zeal <a hospital patient heartened by good news>. embolden implies the giving of courage sufficient to overcome timidity or reluctance <emboldened by her first success, she tried an even more difficult climb>.
HEARTENING Defined for Kids
hearten
verb heart·en \ˈhär-tən\
heart·enedheart·en·ing
Definition of HEARTEN for Kids
: to give new hope or courage to <The win heartened the team's fans.>
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