ENGLISH
REFERENCE

discourage

v.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //dɪˈskɝɪdʒ// UK //dɪskˈʌɹɪdʒ// dis·cour·age Archaic General-service

v. to try to stop someone from doing something by making it seem like a bad idea. It can also mean to make someone feel less confident about their plans.

v. to attempt to dissuade someone from a course of action by highlighting potential difficulties or negative consequences. Transitive; often used to describe the dampening of enthusiasm or confidence.


SIMPLE

My parents discourage me from staying up too late.

CONTEXTUAL

The high cost of parking in the city center is intended to discourage people from driving to work.

COMPLEX

While the initial setbacks might discourage a less determined researcher, she viewed the failed experiments as necessary steps toward a more refined hypothesis.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

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

Usage

The verb is transitive and frequently takes the preposition 'from' followed by a gerund ('discourage someone from doing something').

Pitfall

discourage him to godiscourage him from goingUnlike 'encourage', which takes an infinitive, 'discourage' typically requires the preposition 'from' and a gerund.

© 2026 English Reference