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
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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:
As the crowd shouts encouragement, Tonya takes to the lectern.
From BBC ● 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
Though the new teammates wanted to keep the specifics of their conversations between them, Snell’s advice and encouragement made an impression — “It’s like putting fuel in a rocket,” De Paula said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
With a little encouragement from Dr. Pérez, who approached Peggy and told her that Farmer was a friend of his, she finally relented.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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
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
Unhealthy fan culture should be cracked down on, and voting segments of programmes strictly controlled, with encouragements for fans to spend money to vote strictly forbidden, said the notice.
From Reuters ● Sep. 2, 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.
