Which to use
“discourage” is a verb and “discourse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,498
- “discourage” frequency rank
- #9,168
- “discourse” frequency rank
- 22666
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | discourage | discourse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject. | Verbal exchange, conversation. |
Where the eye mixes discourage and discourse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between discourage and discourse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: discourage is /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒ/ while discourse is /ˈdɪs.kɔːs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
discourage is recorded at frequency rank #13,498, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒ/. discourse is at rank #9,168, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɪs.kɔːs/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 22666, this pair ranks #414,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of discourage vs discourse
Shared letters: cdeiorsu. Private to "discourage": ag. Private to "discourse": -.
"discourage" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCV · "discourse" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- discourage ← ddiscourage · dicsourage · disccourage · discoruage · discouarge · discouraeg · discouragge · discourgae
- discourse ← ddiscourse · dicsourse · disccourse · discoruse · discoures · discourrse · discoursse · discousre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "discourage" for "discourse" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "discourage" or "discourse" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "discourage" and "discourse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "discourage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "discourse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "discourage" and "discourse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "discourage vs discouraged". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #414,893 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.