Synonyms for deter
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Discourage
discourage, dissuade, intimidate, scare, demoralize UK US, demoralise UK, dishearten, daunt
Other
repel, disincline, indispose, startle dated
Definitions
- v. 1
To prevent something from happening.
- v. 2
To persuade someone not to do something; to discourage.
Their boss deterred them from both taking holidays at the same time, claiming he couldn't manage it all on his own.
Related words
- Word family
- determent deterrency deterrer deterrent deterrence
Forms
- Past participle
- deterred
e.g. deterred → discouraged, dissuaded, intimidated, scared…
Example sentences
- scare Don't worry, we're just going to give him a scare.
- discourage Should Algeria discourage car use in large cities?
- intimidate They tried to intimidate Muslim students on the campus.
- dissuade Bees have bright colors to dissuade their enemies.
- prevent Eating healthfully can help prevent heart disease.
- hinder If you cannot help us, don't at least hinder us.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| deter | steady | |
| scare | rising | |
| discourage | falling | |
| intimidate | rising | |
| dissuade | rising | |
| prevent | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- stop1
- 5 letters
- scare1, repel2, daunt1, debar
- 6 letters
- hinder2
- 7 letters
- prevent2, inhibit3, startle2
- 8 letters
- restrain2, obstruct2, dissuade2
- 9 letters
- indispose
- 10 letters
- discourage3, intimidate4, demoralize4, demoralise, dishearten, disincline3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (repel2 = 2 syllables).