discountenance
Americanverb (used with object)
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to disconcert, embarrass, or abash.
With his composure, he survived every attempt to discountenance him.
-
to show disapproval of.
The teachers discountenanced smoking by the students.
noun
verb
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to make ashamed or confused
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to disapprove of
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of discountenance
First recorded in 1570–80; dis- 1 + countenance
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.
See Examples For:
But when Hamilton pleaded a second time, Reverend Moore agreed, provided that if he lived, Hamilton would “employ all your influence in society to discountenance this barbarous custom.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2016
They did not, as was generally reported, decide to discountenance Loucheur's efforts at an agreement with Britain.
From Time Magazine Archive
American principles of fair play discountenance attempts to condemn a person by compelling him to disclose his own transgressions.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dr. Fairfax skilled to discountenance indignities, replied: "I am standing here on my two feet—and here I stay!"
From Time Magazine Archive
The laws of Moses certainly discountenance the lending of money at interest.
From Creed And Deed A Series of Discourses by Felix Adler
The Board through its business conduct committee, has always discountenanced bear raids and manipulations of prices, and it again instructs that commit tee to take particularly vigorous measures to prevent such activities.
From Time Magazine Archive
Most charitable view of the matter is that Mr. Curtis, having discovered how his name was being used, discountenanced his henchmen.
From Time Magazine Archive
The same ship that carried discountenanced Warlord Chang Hsueh-liang and his 17 "secretaries" from Shanghai last week also bore Benito Mussolini's son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister to China, going home for a vacation.
From Time Magazine Archive
When deprived of the regular Democratic nomination, he had firmly discountenanced a "McKee Anyway" movement.
From Time Magazine Archive
A king of course can do no wrong; but amongst people of lower degree the habit should be discountenanced, both on the score of expense, and of decency.
From The Life of a Celebrated Buccaneer A Page of Past History for the Use of the Children of To-day by Richard Clynton
Several bond houses wrote back, politely but firmly discountenancing the notion of preferring stocks to bonds as investments.
From Time Magazine Archive
To Gabon's 6,000 Frenchmen that meant only one thing: the U.S. had been behind the abortive coup in hopes of discountenancing le grand Charles.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Quaker rule of discountenancing marrying out of meeting tended to keep a large acreage in the family and to make it larger by marriage.
From The Quaker Colonies, a chronicle of the proprietors of the Delaware by Sydney George Fisher
But there are other cogent reasons for discountenancing early marriages, also drawn from the physiology of reproduction, to say nothing of the many reasons which might be urged on other grounds.
From Plain Facts for Old and Young by John Harvey Kellogg
A favourable occasion for circumscribing these evils, and discountenancing this injustice, is, we conceive, now offered to Congress, in the power and opportunity of legislating for the newly acquired territory of the Floridas.
From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 6, 1921 by Various
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