Synonyms

discourage

American

[dih-skur-ij, -skuhr-] / dɪˈskɜr ɪdʒ, -ˈskʌr- /

verb (used with object)

to deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; dishearten; dispirit.

Synonyms:

intimidate, cow, overawe, disparage, abash, deject, depress, daunt

Antonyms:

encourage
to dissuade (usually followed byfrom ).
to obstruct by opposition or difficulty; hinder.

Low prices discourage industry.
to express or make clear disapproval of; frown upon.

to discourage the expression of enthusiasm.

verb (used without object)

to become discouraged.

a person who discourages easily.

discourage British

/ dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒ /

verb

to deprive of the will to persist in something
to inhibit; prevent

this solution discourages rust
to oppose by expressing disapproval

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

Discourage, dismay, intimidate mean to dishearten or frighten. To discourage is to dishearten by expressing disapproval or by suggesting that a contemplated action or course will probably fail: He was discouraged from going into business. To dismay is to dishearten completely: Her husband's philandering dismayed her. To intimidate is to frighten, as by threats of force, violence, or dire consequences: to intimidate a witness.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of discourage

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English discoragen, from Middle French descorager, Old French descoragier; see dis- ¹, courage

Explanation

If your friend is thinking about quitting her job and moving to the Peruvian Andes to raise llamas, you might discourage her by pointing out that she’s allergic to llamas and also afraid of heights. When you discourage someone, you try to talk them out of doing something, by pointing out reasons why their planned action would be unwise. The verb discourage has roots in the French word descouragier, which comes from des-, meaning “away,” and corage, or “courage.” So when you discourage someone, you can think of it as taking his courage — or enthusiasm — away.

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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:

discourage discourages discouraged discouraging

So to discourage them from congregating, simply provide less food.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

"It's always been our thing, if you discourage the DNA that completes us, what's the point in then playing Test cricket?"

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Each member state must anonymously assign each candidate one of three labels: "encourage," "discourage," or "no opinion."

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

For example, eliminating the tax cap could increase marginal tax rates on labor income in high-tax states, including New York, California and Oregon, which could discourage workers from earning more.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

The lakeward edge of the island was steep enough to discourage hippos, but the landward side sloped gently into the water.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Anthropic discourages other AI developers from using its tools to accelerate AI development, prohibiting competing products via its terms of service.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

McReynolds said allowing taxis into bus lanes "slows buses, discourages public transport use and undermines sustainable transport options".

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

Taxing buildings and land together at the same rate discourages precisely the activity cities most need, namely new construction and redevelopment.

From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026

However, colonoscopies -- the primary screening method used today -- can be costly and uncomfortable, which discourages many people from getting tested on time.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2026

The prospect of fording this /aife-colored torrent discourages most people from traveling any farther.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Condominium buying recently fell to a 20-year low as potential buyers have been discouraged by high interest rates and building fees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

But the head of the dig discouraged him from learning this "very difficult" script, which borrowed its cuneiform alphabet from Assyrian.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

New graduates lament that while their college professors discouraged the use of AI tools, hiring managers applaud it.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

The state also alleges Amazon discouraged unionization by terminating or threatening to terminate delivery contractors whose workers attempted to organize and restricted competition among contractors through policies that prevented them from recruiting each other’s drivers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

He was so discouraged about the cabbages, it was easy to talk his price down.

From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Offensive line coach Butch Barry must quickly figure out his unit’s direction, as Week 1 of the regular season is less than a month away and Biadasz’s health status appears discouraging.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

That could undermine the vaccine’s financial viability, a de facto way of discouraging Moderna from continuing to market it.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

Egypt's leaders have struck a cautious note since, warning against any "escalation" in the conflict and discouraging "speculation" while keeping a tight grip on the media narrative.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

Hamilton knew that high protective tariffs, by discouraging importing and encouraging smuggling, suppressed those collections.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

It is discouraging to have had the wrong aunts, and never the ghost of a message.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023