encouragement
Americannoun
-
encouragements
plural
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the act of encouraging.
-
the state of being encouraged.
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something that encourages.
Praise is the greatest encouragement.
- Synonyms:
- endorsement, lift, boost, support, praise
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of encouragement
Explanation
When you help someone by offering positive words of support and approval, that's encouragement. It must have been the words of encouragement you gave in the airport lounge that helped your friend board the plane. Within the word encouragement we see the word "courage," which means the ability to face danger and deal with it. To encourage, then, is to help develop that ability in someone, while the "ment" at the end makes that development into a noun, the act of giving courage or support to another. You needed a little encouragement to try horse riding again, after your injuries healed.
Vocabulary lists containing encouragement
Catching Fire
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"Refugees Find New Lives"
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Taste of Salt
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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:
Rhoa gave a head pat and some words of encouragement and ran back to the line for the next play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
After some encouragement, it gets going and they drive out of what looks like a storage unit.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
It adopts a helpful no-punishment philosophy: If you don’t meet your goals or you step away from the app for an extended amount of time, it only sends encouragement.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
As a result, she struggled with mental health and an aversion to sexuality from her youth onward, finding solace in artistic creation but little encouragement on that front from those around her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
She was to offer Mrs. Maroney encouragement to follow her husband’s orders in case she wavered.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
I wonder how well and efficiently he would have written it with frequent and intermittent shouts being thrown his way, regardless of whether they were insults or encouragements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Yet tucked among the encouragements to get “hipped to oneness” and “train the other sight” is the dark glimmer of where the cult-religion line blurs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2025
The chat and commenters on Twitter were screaming encouragements, hyped as all hell to have the privilege of watching Malenia fall for the 1,000th time.
From The Verge ● May 11, 2022
There were no significant moments of tension or any real contretemps, just the usual pleasantries, mild encouragements and civil interactions accompanying a golf round.
From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2021
Coach O was shouting instructions and encouragements as Luke slowly pushed himself up to his hands and knees.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
