discountenance
/dɪsˈkaʊntənəns/ verb, noun
Forms discountenances discountenancing discountenanced
- verb (transitive) To have an unfavorable opinion of; to deprecate or disapprove of.
- verb (transitive) To abash, embarrass or disconcert.
- verb (transitive) To refuse countenance or support to; to discourage.
- noun Cold treatment; disapprobation.
Etymology
From Middle French descontenancer (compare French décontenancer).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To ruffle or discompose the countenance of; to put of countenance; to put to shame; to abash.
- 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.
Etymology [Pref. dis- + countenance: cf. OF. descontenancer, F. décontenancer.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “discountenance”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details