en ‧ cour ‧ age ‧ ment /ɪnˈkʌrɪdʒmənt $ ɪnˈkɜː-/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ encouraged ≠ ↑ discouraged , ↑ encouraging ≠ ↑ discouraging ; verb : ↑ encourage ≠ ↑ discourage ; noun : ↑ encouragement ≠ ↑ discouragement ; adverb : ↑ encouragingly ≠ ↑ discouragingly ]
when you encourage someone or something, or the things that encourage them OPP discouragement :
With encouragement, Sally is starting to play with the other children.
words of encouragement
encouragement to do something
She needed no encouragement to continue (=did not need any encouragement) .
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ give somebody encouragement
My father always gave us a lot of encouragement.
▪ offer encouragement
My parents offered encouragement and support.
▪ get encouragement (=be given encouragement)
She got a lot of encouragement from her friends.
▪ take/draw encouragement from something
We drew encouragement from the letters we received from well-wishers.
▪ need encouragement
These kids just need some encouragement, that's all.
■ adjectives
▪ positive encouragement (=encouraging someone by saying positive things)
It's important to balance punishment with positive encouragement.
▪ active encouragement (=taking action as well as talking)
The scheme was set up with the active encouragement of the local authority.
▪ considerable/great encouragement
We took considerable encouragement from our early success.
■ phrases
▪ words of encouragement (=the things you say to someone as encouragement)
The rest of the team shouted out words of encouragement.