discouraged
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
feeling like you have lost your confidence or hope because of a problem or failure.
having lost confidence, spirit, or hope; experiencing a state of dejection due to perceived obstacles.
Simple“He felt discouraged after his job application was rejected for the third time.”
In context“Despite the initial setbacks, the research team refused to become discouraged, viewing each failed experiment as a necessary step toward the final solution.”
Usageoften follows 'feel', 'become', or 'get'
PitfallThe difficult exam made me feel discouraging. The difficult exam made me feel discouraged.Use '-ed' to describe how a person feels and '-ing' to describe the thing that causes the feeling.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
describing an action that people are advised not to do, though it might not be strictly forbidden.
describing an action or behaviour that is advised against or viewed with disfavour by an authority.
Simple“Using personal phones during the meeting is strongly discouraged by the manager.”
In context“In many academic disciplines, the use of first-person pronouns in formal research papers is traditionally discouraged in favour of a more objective tone.”
Usageoften used in passive constructions or official guidelines
Teacher's tipThis sense is common in technical or administrative contexts, such as software documentation or workplace policies.
SynonymsdisapprovedunrecommendedAntonyms
“Entertainment events are restricted and even the use of electricity is discouraged.”
“Plantation owners in the South eagerly repeated these stories because they discouraged enslaved people from escaping into marshes and swamps, where pursuing them proved difficult.”