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:
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
Most schools have rules over the value of gifts teacher can accept, limited to £30 or £50 typically, and discourage cash gifts altogether.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
What the reforms would discourage is the strategic use of firings to immobilize the commissions themselves.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
While costs for a lot of the provisions of a July 4th barbecue are up, Wells Fargo doesn’t discourage consumers from celebrating the holiday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The children were quite skilled at identifying animal tracks in the snow, although Penelope had to discourage them from actually sniffing their way along the ground.
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
Anthropic discourages other AI developers from using its tools to accelerate AI development, prohibiting competing products via its terms of service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
While the manosphere discourages vulnerability, Khushal credits a "strong support system" and a focus on "empathy" for his own healing.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 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
They highlight that restrictive zoning is largely to blame for underproduction relative to job growth and concur that rent control is counterproductive as it discourages the addition of supply, even with strong demand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 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
Mayor Clara Brugada discouraged fans from going to the Angel monument, saying the city would offer celebrations at other locations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
Chief executives of public companies are typically discouraged by their board of directors from taking large stakes in outside ventures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
I have to admit, that discouraged me at first: hearing the little kids jabbering away in Kikongo.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
A long job search can be discouraging, but she says it is important to maintain a robust profile nevertheless.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
The government has intensified actions to curb kidnapping, including introducing measures aimed at discouraging ransom payments.
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
Widening losses can be discouraging, but for early-stage quantum companies, the numbers only tell part of the story.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
It’s remarkable — and discouraging — how many people are disengaged from their own financial lives.
From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026
And if Kate and Constance were drawing no such unpleasant attention themselves, it was only because they were having a terrible time with the quizzes, which was even more discouraging.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
