discourage

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒ/ UK /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒ/ See IPA manual

Freq #18871

Meanings

1

verb
To make someone feel less confident or less willing to do something.

Don't let one failure discourage you from trying again.
2

verb
To try to persuade someone not to do something.

The signs are meant to discourage people from feeding the animals.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 verb · to try to persuade someone... deter

More daunt dissuade

Opposites

encourage

Word family

Forms discourageddiscouragesdiscouraging

Derived forms discourageablediscouragementdiscourageroverdiscourage

Etymology

From Middle French descourager (modern French décourager), from Old French descouragier, from des- and corage. By surface analysis, dis- + courage.

descourager Middle French descouragier Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# discourage

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒ/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒ/
**Frequency rank:** 18871

## Meanings
1. To make someone feel less confident or less willing to do something.
2. To try to persuade someone not to do something.

## Examples
- Don't let one failure discourage you from trying again.
- The signs are meant to discourage people from feeding the animals.

## Synonyms
- daunt
- deter
- dissuade

## Antonyms
- encourage

## Derived Forms
- discourageable
- discouragement
- discourager
- overdiscourage

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: descourager
- Root: descouragier

## Etymology
From Middle French descourager (modern French décourager), from Old French descouragier, from des- and corage. By surface analysis, dis- + courage.

## AI Etymology
discourage comes from Middle French descourager (modern French décourager), from Old French descouragier, from des- and corage. By surface analysis, dis- + courage. The historical chain includes Middle French descourager, Old French descouragier. Current senses include to make someone feel less confident or less willing to do something and to try to persuade someone not to do something. English relatives and later formations include discourageable, discouragement, discourager.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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