1
as in to frustrate
to lessen the courage or confidence of
I didn't let losing discourage me from trying again
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to dissuade
to steer (a person) from an activity or course of action
the higher fines may help discourage drivers from speeding on the highway
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in demoralizing
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
1
as in frustrating
to lessen the courage or confidence of
I didn't let losing discourage me from trying again
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dissuading
to steer (a person) from an activity or course of action
the higher fines may help discourage drivers from speeding on the highway
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of discourage
Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026
Rather than discourage new construction by piling on regulations, put the focus on existing buildings.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2026
Their status has been diminished by what has — charitably — been a really discouraging decade, featuring two separate relegations.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
Red flags worth walking away from include dismissing symptoms without investigation, attributing everything to stress or anxiety, discouraging second opinions and making patients feel rushed.
—Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for discourage
Verb
Picollo said Royals hitters, who did not challenge any such calls against the Braves, are discouraged from challenging when ahead in the count.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026
Rather than discourage new construction by piling on regulations, put the focus on existing buildings.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
Yet seldom is heard a discouraging word when Darnold assesses what happened in New York, Carolina, San Francisco, or Minnesota.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2026
Their status has been diminished by what has — charitably — been a really discouraging decade, featuring two separate relegations.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Verb
These interconnected policies demonstrate an intentional effort to reshape the American electorate by discouraging nonwhite immigration and citizenship.
—Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
Red flags worth walking away from include dismissing symptoms without investigation, attributing everything to stress or anxiety, discouraging second opinions and making patients feel rushed.
—Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for discourage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discourage
Adjective
-
The Heat repeatedly allowed open shots and unchallenged forays to the basket in another demoralizing and disgraceful defensive display, one made all the worse by the fact the Heat is fighting for playoff seeding.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Nothing is more demoralizing for a team trying to regain its balance than having its outcome determined by the third inning.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Transplant Shock is Avoidable Inviting the opportunity for transplant shock has got to be one of the most disheartening gardening mistakes out there.—
Tessa Cooper,
Southern Living,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Sure, the Longhorns (21-15, 9-9) endured an up-and-down regular season and suffered a disheartening loss to Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The keenness of my letdown was dismaying.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Feb. 2026
-
But there’s another side to this story, equally dismaying, which is the abandonment of dissidents as a public cause in the West.—
Bret Stephens,
Mercury News,
12 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
About 20 miles southwest of Indianapolis, Mooresville residents report finding dirty water filters turning a disconcerting brown.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
31 Mar. 2026
-
That alone would be disconcerting, but that the line (dubbed the Petrova Line, after the scientist who discovered it) seems to be linked to a new, gradual dimming of the sun?—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The Alzheimer’s and dementia numbers are equally daunting.—
Tom Wolzien,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Deciding Rhode Island's most iconic dish can be a daunting task.—
Rin Velasco,
The Providence Journal,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Uddin said there are challenges to operating a food pantry at a high volume, but none more dispiriting than having to say no.—
Zareen Syed,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Mar. 2026
-
The 5-2 loss was Toronto’s third straight coming out of the Olympic break and third straight display of dejected, dispiriting, flat and admittedly embarrassing hockey.—
Jonas Siegel,
New York Times,
1 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Rolling off the treble knob helps a little, but even dialed back all the way, that upper-mids/low-treble range remains troublesome.—
Mark Knapp,
PC Magazine,
1 Apr. 2026
-
And the struggles up front affected what was already troublesome quarterback play after Conner Harrell’s knee injury in Week 4.—
Hunter Bailey,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Göring, played by Russell Crowe, is the troubling centerpiece of James Vanderbilt’s ambitious film devoted to the trial of the major Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg in 1945–1946.—
Alice Kaplan,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
-
There, an old Tibetan man (Tsewang Migyur Khangsar) requests a Tibetan doctor to tend to his ever more troubling ailments.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Discourage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discourage. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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