deterred

American

[dih-turd] / dɪˈtɜrd /

adjective

discouraged or restrained from acting or proceeding.

A visible thief is a deterred thief, so installing motion-sensing lights on your property helps to protect it.
kept from happening; prevented or checked.

Assuming that those 79,000 deterred property crimes have an average cost of $1,900 each, that’s a savings of over $150 million.

verb

the simple past tense and past participle of deter.

Other Word Forms

undeterred adjective

Etymology

Origin of deterred

deter ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Tickets in the top two categories, priced between $1,940 and $2,370, have remained available through subsequent ticket drops, suggesting fans have been deterred by the cost.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

Horton’s second-quarter profit fell to $647.9 million as affordability concerns and economic uncertainty deterred homebuyers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

But CEO Mark Zuckerberg isn’t likely to be deterred from his AI push, so investors have to hope its next model is a hit.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

KB Home shares were under pressure on Wednesday after the company said it’s already seeing prospective buyers deterred by the war in Iran as the Los Angeles home builder cut its full-year guidance.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

In the spring he had longed to plant begonias and zinnias in a narrow bed around his tent but had been deterred by his fear of Corporal Whitcomb’s rancor.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023