encouragement
Americannoun
-
encouragements
plural
-
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:
Despite the early hour in Japan, thousands of people tuned into the live stream, posting messages of encouragement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
McKennah was among the first people to offer him encouragement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
Vo’s own go-to Taco Bell order audaciously nods at the chain’s encouragement of personalization: A chicken quesadilla bulked up with steak and ground beef.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Moura says the findings could still offer encouragement to people who have recently started exercising but have not yet noticed changes on the scale.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Dimly, he could hear the watchers shouting encouragement to Hord, but their voices were muffled, as if he were underwater.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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
To get out of the slump and push the quality upward again, I clap my hands and shout encouragements like a ranting soccer coach: “Come on now!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2023
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
In the Digital Wellbeing settings, tap Bedtime Mode to add further sleep-friendly encouragements, like enabling your Do Not Disturb shield, turning the screen black-and-white or just keeping it off.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2021
If I had not promoted Mr. Weston’s visits here, and given many little encouragements, and smoothed many little matters, it might not have come to any thing after all.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
