encouragement
Americannoun
-
the act of encouraging.
-
the state of being encouraged.
-
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:
“I hope it’s been able to give that encouragement to the people in power to let there be more stories out there because we just need more, different kinds of queer stories.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
I’ve always been a little skeptical of the government’s encouragement to delay claiming benefits.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
She said the schoolboy was supported by the "love, prayers and encouragement of his family, friends, school and wider community".
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Indeed, Britain’s encouragement of the slave trade was one of the offenses he cited in his first draft of the Declaration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
When I opened my locker, I was hoping I’d find a note of encouragement or some treats from a secret psych.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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
He was dizzyingly accessible in his DMs — several people posted screenshots of his private encouragements, emotional labor that was free and unseen, but not without consequence.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2021
You wouldn’t budge, though the boys whispered encouragements.
From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman
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.
