DISCOURAGE: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for DISCOURAGE?

Need another word that means the same as “discourage”? Find 32 synonyms and 30 related words for “discourage” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Discourage” are: deter, admonish, monish, warn, demoralized, deflated, let down, cast down, having lost heart, depressing, demoralizing, disheartening, dishearten, dispirit, demoralize, make despondent, make downhearted, depress, disappoint, dampen someone's hopes, dash someone's hopes, cause to lose heart, prevent, stop, put a stop to, avert, fend off, stave off, ward off, dissuade, disincline, turn aside

Discourage as a Verb

Definitions of "Discourage" as a verb

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “discourage” as a verb can have the following definitions:

• Persuade (someone) against an action.
• Advise or counsel in terms of someone's behavior.
• Cause (someone) to lose confidence or enthusiasm.
• Try to prevent; show opposition to.
• Admonish or counsel in terms of someone's behavior.
• Deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged.
• Prevent or try to prevent (something) by showing disapproval or creating difficulties.

Synonyms of "Discourage" as a verb (32 Words)

admonish	Admonish or counsel in terms of someone s behavior. She admonished him to drink no more than one glass of wine.
avert	Prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening. Avert a strike.
cast down	Throw forcefully.
cause to lose heart	Give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally.
dampen someone's hopes	Lessen in force or effect.
dash someone's hopes	Hurl or thrust violently.
deflated	Become deflated or flaccid as by losing air.
demoralize	Corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality. The boss s behavior demoralized everyone in the office.
demoralized	Lower someone’s spirits; make downhearted.
demoralizing	Corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality.
depress	Lower someone’s spirits; make downhearted. Fear of inflation in America depressed bond markets.
depressing	Lower someone’s spirits; make downhearted.
deter	Try to prevent; show opposition to. Strategists think not only about how to deter war but about how war might occur.
disappoint	Fail to meet the hopes or expectations of. The governing coalition had bitterly disappointed the hopes of its voters.
dishearten	Take away the enthusiasm of. The farmer was disheartened by the damage to his crops.
disheartening	Take away the enthusiasm of.
disincline	Make unwilling.
dispirit	Cause (someone) to lose enthusiasm or hope. The army was dispirited by the uncomfortable winter conditions.
dissuade	Persuade (someone) not to take a particular course of action. Negative campaigning will only dissuade people.
fend off	Try to manage without help.
having lost heart	Undergo.
let down	Actively cause something to happen.
make despondent	Engage in.
make downhearted	Be or be capable of being changed or made into.
monish	To admonish to give counsel warning or criticism.
prevent	Stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state. Locks won t prevent a determined burglar from getting in.
put a stop to	Formulate in a particular style or language.
stave off	Kill intentionally and with premeditation.
stop	Cause to stop. He stopped to look at the view.
turn aside	To break and turn over earth especially with a plow.
ward off	Watch over or shield from danger or harm; protect.
warn	Ask to go away. His father had warned him of what might happen.

Usage Examples of "Discourage" as a verb

• We want to discourage children from smoking.
• The plan is designed to discourage the use of private cars.
• We should discourage this practice among our youth.
• Tedious regulations could discourage investors.

Associations of "Discourage" (30 Words)

browbeat	Be bossy towards. A witness is being browbeaten under cross examination.
daunt	Make (someone) feel intimidated or apprehensive. Some people are daunted by technology.
demoralize	Corrupt the morals of (someone. The boss s behavior demoralized everyone in the office.
deprave	Corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality. This book would deprave and corrupt young children.
depress	Cause to drop or sink. The rising inflation depressed the economy.
deter	Prevent the occurrence of. Strategists think not only about how to deter war but about how war might occur.
dishearten	Take away the enthusiasm of. The farmer was disheartened by the damage to his crops.
dismay	Fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised. They were dismayed by the U turn in policy.
dissuade	Turn away from by persuasion. His friends tried to dissuade him from flying.
faze	Disturb or disconcert (someone. She was not fazed by his show of anger.
fright	Frighten. I jumped up in fright.
frighten	Drive out by frightening. The government denies legal responsibility presumably to frighten off other claimants.
frown	Disapprove of. A frown of disapproval.
gaze	Look at with fixed eyes. He turned following her gaze.
glower	Look angry or sullen, wrinkle one’s forehead, as if to signal disapproval. She glowered at him suspiciously.
hector	Talk to (someone) in a bullying way. She doesn t hector us about giving up things.
horror	Something that inspires horror something horrible. To her horror she found that a thief had stolen the machine.
intimidate	To compel or deter by or as if by threats. The forts are designed to intimidate the nationalist population.
intimidation	The feeling of discouragement in the face of someone’s superior fame or wealth or status etc. The intimidation of witnesses and jurors.
lower	Make lower or quieter. Lower costs will encourage people to buy.
menace	A person or thing that is likely to cause harm; a threat or danger. A demand of money with menaces.
miserable	Deserving or inciting pity. His miserable treatment of his family.
panic	Cause sudden fear in or fill with sudden panic. A workload of constant panics and rush jobs.
petrify	Make rigid and set into a conventional pattern. Slogans petrify our thinking.
scare	Become scared. I was scared stiff.
scowl	An angry or bad-tempered expression. She scowled at him defiantly.
shrug	An act or instance of shrugging one s shoulders. Jimmy looked enquiringly at Pete who shrugged his shoulders.
terrify	Fill with terror; frighten greatly. He is terrified of spiders.
terror	Terrorism. She had a terror of darkness.
unnerve	Make (someone) lose courage or confidence. The journey over the bridge had unnerved me.