# discourage vs discouraged

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### discourage
*verb · IPA /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #13,498*
To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject.

### discouraged
*adjective · IPA /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒd/ · frequency rank #12,579*
Having lost confidence or hope; dejected; disheartened.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/discourage-vs-discouraged