discourage

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dis‧cour‧age

Verb

discourage (third-person singular simple present discourages, present participle discouraging, simple past and past participle discouraged)

1. (transitive) To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject.

   Don't be discouraged by the amount of work left to do: you'll finish it in good time.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Colossians 3:21:

     Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

2. (transitive) To persuade somebody not to do (something).
   • 1854, Abraham Lincoln., Notes for a Law Lecture:

     Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can.

Synonyms

• daunt
• deter
• dissuade

 

Antonyms

• encourage

Derived terms

• discourageable
• discouragement
• discourager
• overdiscourage

 

Translations

to dishearten

• Belarusian: адгаво́рваць impf (adhavórvacʹ) (dissuade)
• Bulgarian: обезсърчавам (bg) (obezsǎrčavam), обезкура́жавам (bg) (obezkurážavam)
• Catalan: desanimar (ca), desalenar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 令人愁悶 / 令人愁闷 (zh) (lìng rén chóumèn), 使沮喪 / 使沮丧 (zh) (shǐ jǔsàng)

• Czech: zastrašit, vzít odvahu
• Dutch: ontmoedigen (nl)
• Finnish: lannistaa (fi), nujertaa (fi)
• French: décourager (fr)
• Galician: desalentar (gl), desanimar (gl)
• Georgian: გულს უცრუებს (guls ucruebs), ხალისს აკარგვინებს (xaliss aḳargvinebs)
• German: entmutigen (de), abschrecken (de)
• Greek: αποκαρδιώνω (el) (apokardióno), αποθαρρύνω (el) (apotharrýno)
• Hungarian: elbátortalanít (hu)
• Japanese: 落胆させる (ja) (らくたん させる, rakutan saseru), がっかりさせる (ja) (gakkari saseru)
• Latin: dehortor
• Macedonian: обесхрабрува (obeshrabruva)
• Maori: whakapāhunu
• Old English: mistyhtan
• Persian: دِلسَرد کردن, سُست کردن, بی‌جُراَت ساختن
• Portuguese: desencorajar (pt), desanimar (pt), desalentar (pt)
• Romanian: descuraja (ro)
• Russian: обескура́живать (ru) impf (obeskuráživatʹ), обескура́жить (ru) pf (obeskurážitʹ), расхола́живать (ru) impf (rasxoláživatʹ), расхолоди́ть (ru) pf (rasxolodítʹ), отбива́ть охо́ту impf (otbivátʹ oxótu), отгова́ривать (ru) impf (otgovárivatʹ) (dissuade)
• Spanish: descorazonar (es), acobardar (es), desanimar (es), deshuevar (Central America), desgüevar (Central America)
• Swedish: avskräcka (sv)
• Telugu: నిరుత్సాహపరుచు (nirutsāhaparucu)
• Turkish: şevkini kırmak

to persuade somebody not to do something

• Bulgarian: разубежда́вам (bg) (razubeždávam)
• Catalan: dissuadir (ca)
• Czech: odradit (cs)
• Dutch: ontraden (nl), afraden om
• Finnish: ehkäistä (fi), ehkäistä ennalta
• French: dissuader (fr)
• Galician: desalentar (gl)
• Georgian: გადათქმევინება (gadatkmevineba), გადაათქმევინებს (gadaatkmevinebs), ხელის აღებინება (xelis aɣebineba), ხელს აღებინებს (xels aɣebinebs)
• German: abraten (de), abraten von, abbringen von
• Greek: αποθαρρύνω (el) (apotharrýno)
• Italian: scoraggiare (it)
• Japanese: 思い止まらせる (おもいとどまらせる, omoitodomaraseru), 抑止する (ja) (よくし する, yokushi suru)
• Macedonian: одвраќа (odvraḱa)
• Norwegian: å ikke anbefale
• Polish: zniechęcać (pl) impf, zniechęcić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: despersuadir (pt), dissuadir (pt), desencorajar (pt)
• Russian: разубежда́ть (ru) impf (razubeždátʹ), разубеди́ть (ru) pf (razubedítʹ), отгова́ривать (ru) impf (otgovárivatʹ), отговори́ть (ru) pf (otgovorítʹ)
• Spanish: desalentar (es), disuadir (es)
• Telugu: నిరుత్సాహపరుచు (nirutsāhaparucu)
• Turkish: vazgeçirmek (tr)

Noun

discourage (uncountable)

1. (rare) Lack of courage

Synonyms

• (lack of courage): cowardliness

Further reading

• “discourage”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.