discouraged

1. 1
   adjective

   Feeling that you have lost confidence or hope; dejected and disheartened.

   Like a fire that has lost its flame and begun to die down.

   The team grew discouraged after losing three games in a row.

   He felt deeply discouraged by the slow progress on his research.

   Similardisheartened, dejected, demoralized, dispirited, downcast

   Oppositeencouraged, hopeful, optimistic

   Note

   A gradable adjective of mood: someone can be more discouraged one week and most discouraged the next, and very discouraged sounds natural. It describes people and groups, and that is what keeps it apart from the "not recommended" meaning, where the thing discouraged is a practice rather than a person. A discouraged runner has lost heart, while a discouraged route is one you are advised against.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of discourage.

   The committee discouraged any further spending on the project.

   Heavy traffic discouraged visitors from driving downtown.

   Note

   The verb form carries both of the verb's uses. It can mean disheartened, as in the setbacks discouraged her, or talked out of something, and in that second use it takes from plus an -ing form: she was discouraged from applying. In the passive it shades into the adjective of low spirits. One test is whether very fits: very discouraged is the adjective.

   She was discouraged from applying by her own adviser.

   The early setbacks discouraged her, but she kept going.

3. 3
   adjective

   Not recommended or prescribed; regarded as something to be avoided.

   Self-medicating with leftover antibiotics is a discouraged practice among physicians.

   The use of disposable plastic bags is increasingly discouraged in many cities.

   Similarinadvisable, deprecated

   Oppositerecommended, encouraged, endorsed

   Note

   Behind this use stands the verb in its persuading sense, to talk someone out of doing something, rather than its disheartening one, so nobody's spirits are involved. It attaches to practices, methods and habits, not to people. Calling a habit discouraged means people are being urged away from it.

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