discouraged

[ dih-skur-ijd, -skuhr- ]

adjective

1. deprived of or lacking in courage, hope, or confidence:

   The discouraged writer discarded the poem, but it was retrieved by a young soldier who sent it off for publication.

   Another discouraged mother reported that she had no friends with whom to share childcare duties.

2. dissuaded or obstructed from doing something:

   A third of the discouraged firms would probably have qualified for loans had they applied.

   A discouraged worker is one who wants to work but is not looking for a job because of a perceived lack of demand.

3. disapproved of:

   Climbing on the safety railing is a strongly discouraged activity.

   We consider payday lenders to be a discouraged industry.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of discourage ( def ).

Other Words From

• un·dis·cour·aged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of discouraged¹

discourage ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

By creating uncertainty, the federal government discouraged both states and private companies from acting on their own initiative, which has delayed our national response.

From Popular-Science

Whether the boycott movement discourages streamers and moviegoers from seeing the film remains to be seen.

From Fortune

Sixteen percent say pandemic-imposed restrictions at hospitals and doctors’ offices are discouraging them from moving forward.

From Fortune

Republicans, meanwhile, are leery of continuing the full payments, saying they will discourage people from returning to work.

From FiveThirtyEight

These discouraging numbers have led many businesses to focus on improving their products and services, thus doing their best to retain a loyal customer.

From Search Engine Watch

Press are also discouraged from asking and shouting out questions at the Royals during press calls.

From The Daily Beast

Jackson says that at first, her parents thought it was strange and discouraged her from getting into Korean pop stars.

From The Daily Beast

Perhaps even the indefatigable John Kerry might be discouraged from more futile and dispiriting peace talks.

From The Daily Beast

Its contracted readership has not discouraged a larger group, maybe more than ever before, from writing it.

From The Daily Beast

Ivory purchases are officially discouraged by the Chinese government.

From The Daily Beast

He believed in the value of viva voce discussion, and discouraged all unnecessary inter-departmental correspondence.

From Project Gutenberg

My brother recovered his old spirit and refused to be discouraged by my pessimistic view of his expedition.

From Project Gutenberg

On the very summit of one of these is perched a ruined castle, whose inaccessible position discouraged nearer acquaintance.

From Project Gutenberg

But I reckon the smuggling of Chinks into this section has been pretty well discouraged.

From Project Gutenberg

The colony of Virginia discouraged with their losses and various misfortunes embarked for England.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crestfallen
• depressed
• dismayed
• pessimistic