discouragement
Americannoun
-
discouragements
plural
-
an act or instance of discouraging.
- Antonyms:
- encouragement
-
the state of being discouraged.
- Synonyms:
- hopelessness, dejection, depression
- Antonyms:
- encouragement
-
something that discourages.
Poor health and poverty are grave discouragements.
- Synonyms:
- obstruction, obstacle, impediment, damper, deterrent
- Antonyms:
- encouragement
Synonym Usage
See despair.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of discouragement
1555–65; < Middle French descouragement, Old French descoragement. See discourage, -ment
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:
While ChatGPT occasionally offered discouragement, only the chatbots from Snap and Anthropic reliably refused these requests, according to the researchers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
The responses from San Francisco, both to Benioff and Trump, came swiftly, ranging from calm discouragement to full-blown outrage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2025
I want to address the discouragement and fear that many who care about democracy and peace and human rights are feeling in America and around the world right now.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
A digital discouragement campaign targeting men aged 18 to 35 in the UK is being pushed out by the Dutch city's council.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2023
Even though I still hadn’t raised enough money, my discouragement melted away.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
We can have no illusions about the discouragements which lie ahead.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2023
May, who has written before on how to deal with anxiety and about her own experience as someone with Asperger’s syndrome, is an astute observer of life’s emotional discouragements.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2020
A player who understands the disappointments and discouragements that not just Capitals fans, but a generation of Washington fans carry deep in their hearts.
From Washington Times ● May 6, 2018
This comes on top of other discouragements to growth.
From Economist ● Mar. 1, 2018
In conclusion, let me earnestly and affectionately assure you that the formation of right habits, though necessarily attended, for a time, by failures, difficulties, or discouragements, will eventually prove its own all-sufficient reward.
From The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion or, Familiar Letters to his Nephews by Henry Lunettes
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
