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deterrence.

The act of deterring, or the state of being deterred.

10 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/dɪˈtɛɹəns/Received-Pronunciation/dɪˈtɝɹəns/US/dɪˈtʌɹəns/US/diˈtɝɹəns/US
  1. The act of deterring, or the state of being deterred.

    countable · uncountable
    The policy relies on nuclear deterrence.
    Strict penalties act as a deterrence against theft.
  2. An action taken by states or alliances of nations against equally powerful alliances to prevent hostile action.

    countable · uncountable
    policy of deterrence
  3. The art of producing in one's enemy the fear of attacking.

    countable · uncountable
  4. The art of producing in one's enemy the fear of attacking. Nuclear deterrence: discouraging nuclear attack through the threat of nuclear retaliation.

    countable · specifically · uncountable
  5. The action of discouraging an action or event by instilling doubt or fear of the penalty or punishment.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From the stem of deterrent + -ence.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.