“Demoralize” or “Demoralise”—What's the difference?

Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 4 prefer “demoralize” and 4 prefer “demoralise”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country	demoralize	demoralise	Preference
United States	99	1	“demoralize”
United Kingdom	31	69	“demoralise”
India	69	31	“demoralize”
Philippines	100	0	“demoralize”
Canada	100	0	“demoralize”
Australia	31	69	“demoralise”
Liberia	0	0	Not enough data
Ireland	0	100	“demoralise”
New Zealand	0	100	“demoralise”
Jamaica	0	0	Not enough data
Trinidad & Tobago	0	0	Not enough data
Guyana	0	0	Not enough data

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“demoralize”

…support a military objective to demoralize the enemy.
…village suddenly and "shock and demoralize all the camp occupants –…
…to remove materials deemed to demoralize people and disorganize society," an…
…suggesting that those casualties would demoralize entire units.
…intended to intimidate, surprise and demoralize the enemy.
…would "present nothing that would demoralize or depress," and that visitors…
…he would do nothing to demoralize the Army.
…of propaganda or disinformation to demoralize or manipulate the enemy and…
…simple sabotage will harass and demoralize enemy administrators and police."
…by the Japanese would eventually demoralize them, forcing them to abandon…

“demoralise”

…operations tactics were employed to demoralise the Taliban and to win…
…quarters combat to break and demoralise enemy infantry formations.
…execution by firing squad, likewise demoralise the antagonists.
…weapons, such a move would demoralise our allies and deeply disquiet…
…of the barrage was to demoralise and suppress the enemy, rather…
…it was army propaganda to demoralise him.
…attempt by the organisers to demoralise our boys".
…remark, or insult intended to demoralise the recipient, or to anger…
…using harsh, physical methods to demoralise the prisoner and force his…
…achievement, in order not to demoralise low achievers.

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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