décourager

From Middle French descourager (from whence English discourage), from Old French descouragier, from des- and corage.

• IPA^(key): /de.ku.ʁa.ʒe/

• Audio:

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décourager

1. (transitive) to discourage

   Antonym: encourager

   décourager quelqu’un de quelque chose ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (pronominal) to lose heart, lose faith

   Synonym: perdre espoir

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written décourage- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written décourage- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

• découragement

• “décourager”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.