to discourage

Examples

• All

• Our banks certainly don't want to discourage Harris Enterprises from investing in California.

  Fiction book (1990)

• No student should be discouraged from pursuing a college track.

  Walkout (2006)

• However, they discourage having other dogs.

  Molly Burke

• What kind of person am I if I discourage it?

  Jack Lyon: Veterans Serving Veterans (2013)

• It's just there to kind of discourage you from stealing, I guess.

  Danny Jones

• That ought to discourage anyone from barging in on us.

  Deadly Harvest (1977)

• We've got to discourage this kind of thing.

  The Sting (1973)

• We wouldn't want to discourage him from calling us... ...in the event that something real ever does happen.

  Home Alone 3 (1997)

• First, existing policies, both with regard to pricing and power generation, discourage investment in co-generation.

  Academic text (1999)

• Teachers often try to discourage students from giving up by providing extra support and encouragement.

Synonyms

D

to deter

vsto discourage

94 5.6

Make someone less likely to do something by making them fear bad results

tries to prevent action by lowering confidence and hope

H

to hinder

vsto discourage

75 3.6

To make it difficult for people or things to do something

acts by lowering confidence and hope rather than physically blocking progress

D

to dissuade

vsto discourage

35 6.0

To try to stop someone from doing something by talking to them

tries to prevent action by lowering confidence and hope

I

to impede

vsto discourage

35 6.5

To slow the progress or movement of people and things

acts by lowering confidence and hope instead of physically delaying progress

I

to inhibit

vsto discourage

30 5.4

Stop or make something less likely to happen

acts by lowering confidence and hope rather than blocking progress

P

to put someone off

vsto discourage

20 4.3

Make someone lose interest in doing something

tries to prevent action by lowering confidence and hope

D

to daunt

vsto discourage

7 7.2

To make someone feel afraid or less confident

tries to prevent action by lowering confidence and hope

D

to disincline

vsto discourage

• Formal

7.9

To make someone not want to do something

tries to prevent action by lowering confidence and hope

Antonyms

E

to encourage

∞ 2.3

Give someone support and confidence so they try or keep doing something

How Discouraging

to demoralize

33 6.1

to dishearten

8 5.3

to undermine confidence

4 6.0

to discourage

257 3.5

to deter

94 5.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology