discountenance

1 of 2

verb

dis·​coun·​te·​nance di-ˈskau̇n-tə-nən(t)s How to pronounce discountenance (audio)
-ˈskau̇nt-nən(t)s
discountenanced; discountenancing; discountenances
Synonyms of discountenancenext

transitive verb

1
: abash, disconcert
2
: to look with disfavor on : discourage by evidence of disapproval
discountenanced all bellicose statements

discountenance

2 of 2

noun

: disapprobation, disfavor

Synonyms

Verb

Noun

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

Examples of discountenance in a Sentence

Verb a social philosopher who discountenanced all programs for helping the needy, claiming that society should encourage survival of the fittest the political party was discountenanced by the actions of a few of its overly zealous members Noun made known his long-standing discountenance of any form of religious belief

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1584, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1579, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of discountenance was in 1579

Dictionary Entries Near discountenance

discount day

discountenance

discount house

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Discountenance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discountenance. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

discountenance

verb
dis·​coun·​te·​nance
dis-ˈkau̇nt-ᵊn-ən(t)s,
-ˈkau̇nt-nən(t)s
1
: embarrass sense 1, disconcert sense 2
2
: to look with disfavor on
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

9 Superb Owl Words

15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
little chihuahua dressing like a turkey for thanksgiving
Is That Gratitude or Attitude? A Thanksgiving Quiz Decide which words express gratitude and which gi...