French word

décourager

Pronunciation

IPA/dekuʁaʒe/

Meaning

  • verbdiscourage

Example

Ne te laisse pas décourager par un échec.

Don't let a failure discourage you.

Illustration for décourager (discourage)

More examples

Les échecs répétés ont commencé à décourager l'équipe.

Repeated failures began to discourage the team.

Core concept

A person's confidence and drive drain away until continuing feels harder.

Common phrases

  • se décourager

    get discouraged

  • ne pas se laisser décourager

    not let oneself be discouraged

Similar words

démoraliser: To make someone lose confidence or hope and undermine their motivation.
démotiver: To reduce someone's motivation and make them unwilling to take action.
déconseiller: To advise against an action because it is considered unwise.

Definition in French

Faire perdre confiance ou entrain à quelqu'un, de sorte qu'il renonce ou recule.

Word origin

French décourager developed from Old French descouragier, built from des- meaning removal and courage meaning courage.

Usage tips

  • As a transitive verb, décourager takes a person directly, while the reflexive se décourager means to lose heart.

Other meanings

  • disheartenverb

Opposites

Related words

  • découragementdiscouragementnoun
  • découragédiscouragedadjective

Word lists with this word