as in to dissuade
to steer (a person) from an activity or course of action
we tried to deter him from his crazy scheme, but to no avail
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Recent Examples of deter
But a new tool paid for by Choose Not To Use, a Scott County Drug Prevention Task Force, is expected to help deter students from vaping in schools, or altogether.
—
Alex Malm, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2025
McConnell views hard power as the cornerstone of American leadership and favors increasing defense budgets to deter China and Russia.
—Reid Smith, Foreign Affairs, 3 Feb. 2025
That’s unlikely to entirely deter the nearly half of workers who would try to quit given stricter RTO mandates from their company.
—Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 2 Feb. 2025
Between the lines: Locked display cases aren't meant to deter small-scale shoplifting.
—Carrie Shepherd, Axios, 30 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for deter 
Alex Malm, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2025
McConnell views hard power as the cornerstone of American leadership and favors increasing defense budgets to deter China and Russia.
—Reid Smith, Foreign Affairs, 3 Feb. 2025
That’s unlikely to entirely deter the nearly half of workers who would try to quit given stricter RTO mandates from their company.
—Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 2 Feb. 2025
Between the lines: Locked display cases aren't meant to deter small-scale shoplifting.
—Carrie Shepherd, Axios, 30 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for deter
Thesaurus Entries Near deter
Cite this Entry
“Deter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deter. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.
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