Definition of discourage Discourage

/dɪskɚˈɪʤ/ - [diskerij] - dis•cour•age

We found 11 definitions of discourage from 6 different sources.

What does discourage mean?

Verb discourages, discouraging, discouraged
discourage - deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged
		encourage spur on; "His financial success encouraged him to look for a wife"
		cast down, deject, dispirit, demoralise, dismay, demoralize, depress, get down fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised; "I was horrified at the thought of being late for my interview"; "The news of the executions horrified us"
		dishearten, put off take away the enthusiasm of
		intimidate, restrain make timid or fearful; "Her boss intimidates her"
		pour cold water on, throw cold water on be discouraging or negative about
discourage - admonish or counsel in terms of someone's behavior; "I warned him not to go too far"; "I warn you against false assumptions"; "She warned him to be quiet"
		warn, admonish, monish
		counsel, rede, advise give advice to; "The teacher counsels troubled students"; "The lawyer counselled me when I was accused of tax fraud"
discourage - try to prevent; show opposition to; "We should discourage this practice among our youth"
		deter
		disapprove, reject consider bad or wrong

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discourage (v. t.)
To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject; -- the opposite of encourage; as, he was discouraged in his undertaking; he need not be discouraged from a like attempt.
discourage (v. t.)
To dishearten one with respect to; to discountenance; to seek to check by disfavoring; to deter one from; as, they discouraged his efforts.
discourage (n.)
Lack of courage; cowardliness.

discourage
dis-kur′āj, v.t. to take away the courage of: to dishearten: to seek to check by showing disfavour to.—n. Discour′agement, act of discouraging: that which discourages: dejection.—p.adj. Discour′aging, disheartening, depressing.—adv. Discour′agingly. [O. Fr. descourager. See Courage.]