discountenance love

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To view or treat with disfavor.
  • transitive verb To put out of countenance; disconcert.
  • noun Disfavor or disapproval.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Cold treatment; unfavorable aspect; unfriendly regard; disapprobation; whatever tends to check or discourage.
  • To put out of countenance; put to shame; abash.
  • To set the countenance against; show disapprobation of; hence, to discourage, check, or restrain: as, to discountenance the use of wine; to discountenance the frivolities of the age.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To ruffle or discompose the countenance of; to put of countenance; to put to shame; to abash.
  • transitive verb To refuse to countenance, or give the support of one's approval to; to give one's influence against; to restrain by cold treatment; to discourage.
  • noun Unfavorable aspect; unfriendly regard; cold treatment; disapprobation; whatever tends to check or discourage.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To have an unfavorable opinion of; to deprecate or disapprove
  • verb To abash, embarrass or disconcert

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb look with disfavor on
  • verb show disapproval by discouraging

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word discountenance.

Examples

  • It is a duty society owes to itself to discountenance everything which tends to vitiate public taste.

    A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010

  • Toward the preservation of your Government and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts.

    Think Progress » Wall Street Republicans Form ‘Action Tank’ To Push Corporate Agenda 2010

  • His second duty is to see that nothing is said in the news items or editorials which may discountenance any claims or announcements made by his advertisers, discredit their standing or good faith, or expose any weakness or deception in any business venture that is or may become a valuable advertiser.

    Boing Boing 2009

  • He predicted Jones would “discountenance the movement under the impression that the United States will have the right, and will be bound to remove the Mexican military from east of the Rio Grande after annexation.”

    A Country of Vast Designs Robert W. Merry 2009

  • He predicted Jones would “discountenance the movement under the impression that the United States will have the right, and will be bound to remove the Mexican military from east of the Rio Grande after annexation.”

    A Country of Vast Designs Robert W. Merry 2009

  • He has stationed himself there merely to watch and discountenance her.

    Camilla 2008

  • But I was conscious that, in my situation, not to advance was in some Degree to recede, and being naturally unwilling to think that the principle of decay lay in myself, I was at least desirous to know of a certainty, whether the degree of discountenance which I had incurred, was now owing to an ill-managed story, or an ill-chosen subject.

    The Abbot 2008

  • Where a man in any station had given satisfactory evidence of his fitness for it, a new President would be restrained from attempting a change in favor of a person more agreeable to him, by the apprehension that a discountenance of the Senate might frustrate the attempt, and bring some degree of discredit upon himself.

    Balkinization 2006

  • The few independent nobles and knights who attended Louis, most of whom had only received from him frowns or discountenance, unappalled by the display of infinitely superior force, and the certainty of destruction in case they came to blows, hastened to array themselves around Dunois, and, led by him, to press towards the head of the table where the contending Princes were seated.

    Quentin Durward 2008

  • In this case, the express line of his duty would have been his vindication, and instead, perhaps of discountenance and blame, he would have had praise and honour from his superior.

    Castle Dangerous 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.