Encourage

/ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ · verb

Meaning

To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit..

Definitions by Sense

1. To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.
2. To spur on, strongly recommend.
3. To foster, give help or patronage.

Example Sentences

I encouraged him during his race.

Delia's coach encouraged her to focus on the positives.

The visitors we do not encourage are the many small boys who slip in unobserved and are a danger to themselves and the staff.

"It's a lose-lose situation. It can be turned into a win-win. We should be encouraging and supporting expensive bi-mode freight locomotives, especially where capacity is constrained.

We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.

We encourage you to cycle instead of taking the car.

The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed.

In addition the Marquess built a brickworks adjacent to the colliery, and also greatly improved the harbour to encourage coastal shipping.

Synonyms for encourage

Antonyms for encourage

Related Words

Word Forms

• encourages
• encouraging
• encouraged
• incourage

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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