discourage

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“
I knew that if in this girl anything was truly appealing to my unquiet heart I should silence even the slightest threat of any response--discourage, ignore, exterminate the last unruly trace of sentiment in her regard Yet I remained there motionless, thinking, thinking--her faded rosebud lying in my hand, drooping but still fragrant Dismiss her from my thoughts I could not.

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. transitive verb To deprive of confidence, hope, or spirit.
  2. transitive verb To hamper by discouraging; deter.
  3. transitive verb To try to prevent by expressing disapproval or raising objections.
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Examples (50)

  • The very meagreness and minuteness of the physical witnesses to a former condition of things cease to discourage, and actually become an incitement more effective than bulkier relics might impart. —  A Study Of Hawthorne
  • This would reduce choice for patients and discourage or prohibit innovation and flexibility in health insurance offerings that today are helping many companies and families balance their health costs with other needs. —  Health News from Medical News Today
  • That's why the economic challenges before us, no matter how daunting and difficult, should not discourage or defeat us. —  Starbulletin Headlines
  • We understand what the drafters were doing here and with subsequent language: trying to discourage, if not preclude, "frivolous" suits against such facilities by folks who just don't like the idea of slaughtering horses. —  greatfallstribune.com - Local News
  • Most of these discourage or prohibit destructive mainstream funeral practices - especially the use of embalming fluid - and encourage the use of cloth burial shrouds and simple wooden or cardboard coffins. —  Boston Phoenix - thePhoenix.com
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same contextWord Family

discourage:   discouraging ·  discouraged ·  discourages
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English discoragen, from Old French descoragier : des-, dis- + corage, courage; see courage.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English discouragen, from Old French descoragier, descourager, French décourager (= Italian scoraggiare, scoraggire), dishearten, from des- privative + coragier, couragier, encourage: see dis- and courage, v., and cf. encourage.
  2. from discourage, v.
 

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/dɪsˈkərədʒ/
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