- 1to try to prevent something or to prevent someone 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.
- 2to make someone 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. opposite encourage
discourage
verbNAmE//dɪˈskərɪdʒ//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they discourage he / she / it discourages
past simple discouraged
-ing form discouraging
adjective [not usually before noun] Learners can feel very discouraged if an exercise is too difficult.
adjective a discouraging experience/response/result
adverbSee discourage in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: discourage