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:
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
“So that gives us great encouragement and being long-term in an environment like this is really hard because of the fast movements and the 24-hour news flow and just so much speed.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Through her encouragement, reading became a social, communal activity and positively relating to one another part of a purpose-driven existence.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
French motorists are clogging TotalEnergies service stations to fill up with discount gasoline but its rivals are crying foul, accusing the energy giant of distorting competition with the encouragement of the government.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
While passengers shouted encouragement from the rail, the men chased the birds across the roof, back to the dock, onto the rigging of the ship, and back to the warehouse again.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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
His ball cap is pulled down low, his encouragements uttered softly with a Southern lilt.
From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
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.
