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- DictionaryDis·cour·age/dəˈskərij/
verb
- 1. cause (someone) to lose confidence or enthusiasm: "I don't want to discourage you, but I don't think it's such a good idea"
The meaning of DISCOURAGE is to deprive of courage or confidence : dishearten. How to use discourage in a sentence.
to try to prevent something from happening or someone from doing something, or to have the effect of making something less likely: We tried to discourage him from spending so much money. Higher taxes could discourage business investment.
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.
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.”
To discourage is to dishearten by expressing disapproval or by suggesting that a contemplated action will probably fail: He was discouraged from going into business. To dismay is to dishearten, shock, or bewilder by sudden difficulties or danger: a prosecutor dismayed by disclosures of new evidence.
to try to prevent something or to prevent somebody from doing something, especially by making it difficult to do or by showing that you do not approve of it. discourage (doing) something a campaign to discourage smoking among teenagers.
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.
