Encourage

//ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ// verb

verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. transitive

    "I encouraged him during his race."

  2. 2
    spur on wordnet
  3. 3
    To spur on, strongly recommend. transitive

    "We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre."

  4. 4
    inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to wordnet
  5. 5
    To foster, give help or patronage. transitive

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

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    contribute to the progress or growth of wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
promoteemboldenpromoteprompturgeabet

Example

More examples

"It is necessary for you to go and encourage the girl."

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.

Related phrases

spur on

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.