encourage
/ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ verb
Forms encourages encouraging encouraged incourage
- verb To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. “I encouraged him during his race.”
- verb To spur on, strongly recommend. “We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.”
- verb To foster, give help or patronage. “The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed.”
Synonyms
bield embolden hearten abet actuate goose fuel light a fire under send sting bring about cheer draw drive egg on engender evoke excite foment goad promote advance boost further
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English encouragen, encoragen, from Anglo-Norman encoragier, from Old French encoragier. Displaced native Old English hiertan, tyhtan, and trymman. By surface analysis, en- + courage.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To give courage to; to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope; to raise, or to increase, the confidence of; to animate; enhearten; to incite; to help forward; --the opposite of discourage.
Etymology [F. encourager; pref. en- (L. in) + courage courage. See Courage.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “encourage”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details