encouragement
Americannoun
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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:
“So the earnings story is intact, and that gives us encouragement that the rally that we’ve seen is supported by fundamentals.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
But when viewed in one way of many, “Howl’s Moving Castle” is an encouragement to look inward and see the truth about ourselves honestly and kindly.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Organizers say the more interesting recruits tend to be the ones who need no encouragement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
He parried worries about this World Cup with a groovy encouragement:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 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
A group of men were using their bare hands to try and free her as an anxious crowd stood outside, calling out encouragements to the rescuers.
From Reuters ● Nov. 7, 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
As rescue workers jockeyed to save the boy, throngs of people looking on at the site recited prayers and shouted encouragements to the rescue team.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2022
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
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.
