discouragement

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"discouragement" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“discouragement” is uncommon English (frequency #51,064 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,064
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The loss of confidence or enthusiasm.

Corpus desk

Index EN-discouragement · discouragement · English

discouragement · rank #51,064 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,064
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH discursive

Nearest frequency peer: discursive (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “discouragement”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “discouragement” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for discouragement
PropertyValue
Headworddiscouragement
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Frequency rank#51,064
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “discouragement” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).discouragementfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “discursive” (#51,065), “dispassionate” (#51,066), “differentially” (#51,061). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “discouragement” is #51,064. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

discouragement is uncommon English at frequency #51,064 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for discouragement in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From discourage + -ment. The correct English form is discouragement, spelled D-I-S-C-O-U-R-A-G-E-M-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The loss of confidence or enthusiasm.
  2. 2
    The act of discouraging.
  3. 3
    Anything that discourages.

Etymology

From discourage + -ment.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "discouragement"?
"discouragement" is spelled D-I-S-C-O-U-R-A-G-E-M-E-N-T.
What does "discouragement" mean?
As a noun, "discouragement" means: The loss of confidence or enthusiasm.
What is the origin of the word "discouragement"?
From discourage + -ment. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "discouragement", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

differentially#51,061interventional#51,183longitudinally#51,226unavailability#50,869

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list