Dishearteningly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a way that leads to feelings of discouragement and despair
2. In a manner that inspires a sense of hopelessness and demotivation
3. In a manner that produces feelings of sadness and loss of confidence

Etymology: "Dishearteningly" is a plain adverb built from the verb "dishearten" and the suffix "-ly," so its story is mostly the story of its parts. "Dishearten" is itself formed by adding the prefix "dis-", meaning "deprive of" or "remove," to "heart," which in older English carried the sense of courage and spirit. To dishearten someone was to take away their heart, their resolve. The adjective "disheartening" followed, describing something that causes that loss of resolve. The suffix does the adverbial work. The "-ly" ending descends from Old English "-līċe," which itself came from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "body" or "form," so that "-like" once meant "in the form of." Over the centuries "-līċe" wore down to "-ly" in Middle English, and it was attached to adjectives to turn them into adverbs describing manner. That is how "disheartening" becomes "in a disheartening manner." Because the word is built transparently from familiar parts, its meaning is fully predictable from them: the heart is taken away, and the manner is discouraging.