- 1to try to prevent something or to prevent somebody from doing something, especially by making it difficult to do or by showing that you do not approve of it discourage (doing) something a campaign to discourage smoking among teenagers discourage somebody I leave a light on when I'm out to discourage burglars. discourage somebody from doing something His parents tried to discourage him from being an actor. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbactively, positively, strongly, … verb + discouragetry to prepositionfrom phrases(not) easily discouraged See full entry
- 2to make somebody feel less confident or enthusiastic about doing something synonym dishearten discourage somebody Don't be discouraged by the first failure—try again! discourage somebody from doing something The weather discouraged people from attending. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbactively, positively, strongly, … verb + discouragetry to prepositionfrom phrases(not) easily discouraged See full entry opposite encourage Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French descouragier, from des- (expressing reversal) + corage ‘courage’.Extra examples I’m not easily discouraged. Our system effectively discourages investment. Smoking is actively discouraged in the university. We tried to discourage him from resigning. Don’t be discouraged by the first failure—try again! From boyhood he had been easily discouraged by obstacles in his path. High interest rates will discourage investment. I leave a light on when I’m out to discourage burglars. The weather discouraged most people from attending. They are launching a new campaign to discourage smoking among teenagers. We strongly discourage competitive behaviour.
discourage
verbBrE BrE//dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒ//; NAmE NAmE//dɪsˈkɜːrɪdʒ//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they discourage BrE BrE//dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒ//; NAmE NAmE//dɪsˈkɜːrɪdʒ//
he / she / it discourages BrE BrE//dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒɪz//; NAmE NAmE//dɪsˈkɜːrɪdʒɪz//
past simple discouraged BrE BrE//dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒd//; NAmE NAmE//dɪsˈkɜːrɪdʒd//
past participle discouraged BrE BrE//dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒd//; NAmE NAmE//dɪsˈkɜːrɪdʒd//
-ing form discouraging BrE BrE//dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//dɪsˈkɜːrɪdʒɪŋ//
Check pronunciation: discourage
