Antonyms of verb discourage

1 of 3 senses of discourage

Sense 2
discourage -- (deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged)
       Antonym of encourage (Sense 2)
      => encourage -- (inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to)

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb discourage

3 senses of discourage

Sense 1
deter, discourage -- (try to prevent; show opposition to; "We should discourage this practice among our youth")
       => disapprove, reject -- (deem wrong or inappropriate; "I disapprove of her child rearing methods")

Sense 2
discourage -- (deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged)

Sense 3
warn, discourage, admonish, monish -- (admonish or counsel in terms of someone's behavior; "I warned him not to go too far"; "I warn you against false assumptions"; "She warned him to be quiet")
       => rede, advise, counsel -- (give advice to; "The teacher counsels troubled students"; "The lawyer counselled me when I was accused of tax fraud")

Antonyms of adj discouraging

2 senses of discouraging

Sense 1
discouraging (vs. encouraging) -- (depriving of confidence or hope or enthusiasm and hence often deterring action; "where never is heard a discouraging word")

encouraging (vs. discouraging) -- (giving courage or confidence or hope; "encouraging advances in medical research")
        => exhortative, exhortatory, hortative, hortatory -- (giving strong encouragement)
        => heartening, inspiriting -- (cheerfully encouraging)
        => promotive -- (tending to further or encourage)
        => rallying -- (rousing or recalling to unity and renewed effort; "a rallying cry")

Sense 2
discouraging -- (expressing disapproval)

INDIRECT (VIA dissuasive) -> persuasive -- (intended or having the power to induce action or belief; "persuasive eloquence"; "a most persuasive speaker"; "a persuasive argument")

Similarity of adj discouraging

2 senses of discouraging

Sense 1
discouraging (vs. encouraging) -- (depriving of confidence or hope or enthusiasm and hence often deterring action; "where never is heard a discouraging word")
       => daunting, intimidating -- (discouraging through fear)
       => demoralizing, demoralising, disheartening, dispiriting -- (destructive of morale and self-reliance)
       => frustrating -- (discouraging by hindering)
       => unencouraging -- (not encouraging)
          Also See-> dissuasive#1; hopeless#1; unhelpful#1

Sense 2
discouraging -- (expressing disapproval)
       => dissuasive (vs. persuasive) -- (deterring from action; "dissuasive advice"; "made a slight dissuasive gesture with her hand")