A person or thing that causes discouragement; something that removes courage or confidence from someone.
From dishearten + -er (agent noun suffix). The -er suffix creates a noun for an entity that performs or embodies the verb action, allowing abstraction of the discouraging element.
Calling something a 'disheartener' is psychologically interesting—it lets us externalize disappointment and blame specific factors rather than viewing discouragement as purely internal, which actually helps us cope and problem-solve.
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