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- Dictionarydiscouraging/dɪˈskʌrɪdʒɪŋ/
adjective
- 1. causing someone to lose confidence or enthusiasm; depressing: "a discouraging experience"
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DISCOURAGING definition: 1. making you feel less confident, enthusiastic, and positive about something, or less willing to…. Learn more.
to try to prevent something from happening or someone from doing something, or to have the effect of making something less likely: We tried to discourage him from spending so much money. Higher taxes could discourage business investment.
The meaning of DISCOURAGE is to deprive of courage or confidence : dishearten. How to use discourage in a sentence.
3 days ago · If something is discouraging, it makes you lose your hope or confidence. A discouraging grade in your science class might make you rethink your plans to become a marine biologist. The adjective discouraging comes from dis-, "away" or "lack of," and the Old French coragier, "spirit."
When you discourage someone, you try to talk them out of doing something, by pointing out reasons why their planned action would be unwise. The verb discourage has roots in the French word descouragier, which comes from des-, meaning “away,” and corage, or “courage.”
to prevent or try to prevent something happening or someone doing something, by making things difficult or unpleasant, or by showing disapproval: a campaign to discourage people from smok ing. The authorities have put tanks on the streets to discourage any protest. Opposite. encourage.
discourage, dismay, intimidate mean to dishearten or frighten. To discourage is to dishearten by expressing disapproval or by suggesting that a contemplated action or course will probably fail: He was discouraged from going into business.
discouraging in British English. (dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒɪŋ ) adjective. causing a loss of confidence and determination. Today's report is rather more discouraging for the economy. a discouraging set of results for the country's leading automobile manufacturer. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers.
Definition of discouraging adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective discouraging. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.