discourage
Americanverb (used with object)
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to deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; dishearten; dispirit.
- Antonyms:
- encourage
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to dissuade (usually followed byfrom ).
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to obstruct by opposition or difficulty; hinder.
Low prices discourage industry.
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to express or make clear disapproval of; frown upon.
to discourage the expression of enthusiasm.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to deprive of the will to persist in something
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to inhibit; prevent
this solution discourages rust
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to oppose by expressing disapproval
Synonym Usage
Discourage, dismay, intimidate mean to dishearten or frighten. To discourage is to dishearten by expressing disapproval or by suggesting that a contemplated action or course will probably fail: He was discouraged from going into business. To dismay is to dishearten completely: Her husband's philandering dismayed her. To intimidate is to frighten, as by threats of force, violence, or dire consequences: to intimidate a witness.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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discouragementnoun
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discouragernoun
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overdiscourageverb (used with object)
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prediscourageverb (used with object)
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discourageableadjective
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undiscourageableadjective
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undiscouragingadjective
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discouraginglyadverb
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undiscouraginglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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discouragesimple
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discouragessimple
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have discouragedperfect
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has discouragedperfect
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am discouragingprogressive
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are discouragingprogressive
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is discouragingprogressive
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have been discouragingperfect progressive
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has been discouragingperfect progressive
Past
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discouragedsimple
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had discouragedperfect
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was discouragingprogressive
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were discouragingprogressive
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had been discouragingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of discourage
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English discoragen, from Middle French descorager, Old French descoragier; see dis- 1, courage
Explanation
If your friend is thinking about quitting her job and moving to the Peruvian Andes to raise llamas, you might discourage her by pointing out that she’s allergic to llamas and also afraid of heights. When you discourage someone, you try to talk them out of doing something, by pointing out reasons why their planned action would be unwise. The verb discourage has roots in the French word descouragier, which comes from des-, meaning “away,” and corage, or “courage.” So when you discourage someone, you can think of it as taking his courage — or enthusiasm — away.
Vocabulary lists containing discourage
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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:
Ball later clarified that he wasn’t advocating for the U.S. government to discourage Chinese AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
According to Shanker, limited culling may sometimes discourage wild animals from entering human-dominated areas more effectively than several other approaches currently in use.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Martin O’Malley, who served as Social Security commissioner under the Biden administration, said the staffing issues and long wait times may discourage people from applying.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
What the reforms would discourage is the strategic use of firings to immobilize the commissions themselves.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
But the stubborn FBI agent did not discourage so easily.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Yet the reliance on federal funding discourages regular Catholics from giving and doing as much as they might—after all, government is already on the job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
McReynolds said allowing taxis into bus lanes "slows buses, discourages public transport use and undermines sustainable transport options".
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
Taxing buildings and land together at the same rate discourages precisely the activity cities most need, namely new construction and redevelopment.
From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026
However, colonoscopies -- the primary screening method used today -- can be costly and uncomfortable, which discourages many people from getting tested on time.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2026
Abnegation discourages anything done strictly for my own enjoyment, and that is what this is: my lungs burning, my muscles aching, the fierce pleasure of a flat-out sprint.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
The commission is not discouraged by any of this data.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
"We will never be discouraged, we will always fight," she told crowds at a party event at the weekend.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Nearly all my cousins still live in O.C., buying homes on blue-collar salaries and seeing their children off to colleges we didn’t have the opportunity to attend because we were discouraged by our parents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
Maize prices slid 6.2%, as strong output in South America boosted supply, while lower oil prices discouraged farmers from diverting crops to make biofuels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
There was something about the way she looked that discouraged the children from asking questions.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
The discovery may be discouraging for agencies that have spent decades trying to contain Guam's brown tree snake population.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Economists have traditionally believed that monetary policy influences the business cycle primarily by encouraging or discouraging investment.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
It puts you in your place and, whether you realize it or not, it’s a subversive way of controlling the outcome and discouraging you from using your voice.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026
She added that while a third bridge is not Reform policy, she believed it would make sense, warning that long traffic delays were discouraging visitors to the island.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
“What a greeting I receive after a discouraging day battling for my very existence on the streets of this savage town.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
