Antonyms for discourage
dɪˈskɜr ɪdʒ, -ˈskʌr-dis·cour·age

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. discourageverb

   Antonyms:
   encourage

2. discourageverb

   Antonyms:
   encourage

3. discourageverb

   Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can (Abraham Lincoln )

   Antonyms:
   encourage

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. discourage

   Antonyms:
   abet, advocate, aid, assist, countenance, embolden, encourage, incite, instigate, promote, sanction, support, uphold

   Synonyms:
   baffle, confound, counteract, denounce, deter, disapprove, disconcert, dissuade, expose, frustrate, hinder, impede, obstruct

Matched Categories

1. • Disapprove

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. deter, discourageverb

   try to prevent; show opposition to

   "We should discourage this practice among our youth"

   Antonyms:
   encourage

   Synonyms:
   monish, admonish, warn, deter, dissuade

2. discourageverb

   deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged

   Antonyms:
   encourage

   Synonyms:
   monish, warn, deter, admonish

3. warn, discourage, admonish, monishverb

   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"

   Antonyms:
   encourage

   Synonyms:
   reprove, monish, admonish, warn, deter, caution

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. discourageverb

   Synonyms:
   dishearten, dispirit, depress, deter, dampen, unnerve, oppose, dissuade

Editors ContributionRate these antonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. incentivize

   make more difficult; opposite of encourage

   taxes discourage people from making more money, especially if they would fall into a higher percentage tax bracket. to incentivize or encourage people to make more money, tax incentives are put in place that divert income into retirement accounts, or into creating a business, or other methods of reducing taxable income.

   Submitted by anonymous on November 24, 2019  

2. motivateverb

   provide someone with a motive to do something. make someone less eager to do something.

   she felt down and discouraged when she heard the truth.

   Submitted by lindsay.m.may on March 20, 2022  

3. nurture

   Submitted by @Muskan on December 28, 2020  

How to use discourage in a sentence?

1. William Ellery Channing:

   Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.

2. Ahmet Davutoglu:

   The aim here is to discourage irregular migration and ... to recognize those Syrians in our camps who the EU will accept - though we will not force anyone to go against their will - on legal routes.

3. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown:

   The penalties in the federal system need to be much more conveyed to people to discourage this idea that this is a harmless, mostly clerical administrative violation of the federal system, it is blood money. You are getting the guns... to someone that will harm someone.

4. Barack Obama:

   It's very important right now for us to make sure that both the Russians and the Turks are talking to each other to find out exactly what happened and take measures to discourage any kind of escalation.

5. Andy McKean:

   With the 2020 president election looming on the horizon, I feel as a Republican that I need to be able to support the standard bearer of our party. Unfortunately, that is not something I am able to do, he sets, in my opinion, a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting -- often in a crude and juvenile fashion -- those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we we are attempting to discourage bullying, his frequent disregard for the truth and his willingness to ridicule or marginalize people for their appearance, ethnicity or disability.

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